UNIQUE
Stained Glass is rather exclusive because it is such an intricate medium on which to create images. It requires expert craftsmanship in every step of its production in order to create true pieces of art. Katrain by Hans Holbein the Younger, immortalized King Henry VIII of England's fifth wife by portraying her on a glass "canvas" and then fused, by firing, the color pigments eternally into the glass medium.

The staining materials consist of powders and/or pastes of which some change color when they are subjected to the burning/fusing process. Moreover, stained glass production has always been expensive to perform. Perhaps this is the reason for which there have been many more painters than stained glass artists, historically speaking.

Another important and relevant fact which makes this Hans Holbein the Younger's Katrain extremely unique is the rarity of stained glass as a medium. Century old stained glass masterpiece artworks are only found in musea or in the high windows of cathedrals and churches scattered throughout the world. But unlike these "unreachable and untouchable" stained glass art pieces, Holbein's image of Queen Catherine Howard has for centuries been passed along and still resides among the members of the Rembrandt van Rijn family.

IMAGE SOURCE: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
File:King's College Chapel, Cambridge -
The Great East Window.jpg

Queen Catherine Howard
in Stained Glass

"Katrain"

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