COLORED & STAINED GLASS

Stained-glass windows have been admired for their utility and beauty for hundreds of years, when pieces of colored glass were first assembled into patterned window frames. In Europe, the art of stained glass reached its height between 1150 and 1500, when magnificent windows were created for Cathedrals. When the Spanish Conquerors of the Americas began building churches, parishes and Cathedrals, most of them featured stained glass. 

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As the Spanish Colony of Puerto Rico grew, so did its cities and towns. Houses began to be a representative of social status and so did their ornamentation. Although there is a gap, or no compiled information on historic stained glass in Puerto Rico, most of the small mansions in Ponce have either stained glass or colored glass. 

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Some houses had small accent stained glass pieces, while other had entire doorways and transoms. As the stylistic appearance changed, so did the design. The best way to describe this is by giving examples.

Casa Salazar Candal, designed by architect Blas C. Silva Bouscher and built in 1911, boasts two of the most beautiful stained glass in Ponce. Master Craftsman Elías Concepción was the artisan behind them. From the street, through the staircase and the main entrance doors, a foyer leads to an interior courtyard.  Special features of the interior are the curvilinear and stylized floral motifs present in the stained glass of the double doors. The main entrance doors show a strong moorish influence in its form with lobulated arches and the louvered panels and stained glass insets. 

Casa Wiechers Villaronga, by Alfredo B. Wiechers, and built in 1912, following the Catalan Modernisme style, designed the windows and doors of the building are wooden with movable louvers and fixed colored glass inlets. Using the same colors as the doors, the transoms are also made from colored glass.  

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A well renowned building in Ponce, First United Methodist Church of Ponce, was the first project of Czech architect Antonin Nechodoma in the Island. As a true magnificent example of early 20th century eclecticism, integrating Neo-Gothic, Spanish-Revival-Baroque and byzantine elements, it was built entirely of rusticated, reinforced concrete with gabled wood and corrugated sheet metal roofs. The main gable is divided into three bays: a wide, central bay with a large, wide, four-centered gothic arch stained-glass window and two flanking bays with similar but smaller and narrower stained-glass windows. Above the central bay, a stained glass Spanish-renaissance oculus occupies the area within the pediment.

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Another example is Casa Fount Ubides designed by architect Blas C. Silva Bouscher and built in 1913. Adapting the curves of the "Art Nouveau" to the persistent Neo-classicism of Puerto Rico and the recently born Creole vocabulary of Ponce, the facade is organized into three similar bays, each one consisting of a narrow, arched doorway with wooden panel double-doors, stained-glass lights and tiffany-style stained-glass fanlights. 

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Also by Blas C. Silva in Ponce, Casa Subirá Frau was built in 1910. Within the verandah, four bays are organized into an ABA rhythm of two paired, central bays intricately articulated in the same manner: a circular arch defined by an ornate hood mould with floral and festoon plaster ornament above. Each bay contains wooden, louvered double-doors with ornate leaded-glass panels and a stained-glass fanlight.

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These are some examples of colored and stained glass out of the many more Ponce has to offer. 

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