Stained glass with gold leaf
I was recently asked to make a stained-glass using gold leaf. Being used to work with clients from various nationalities or from different places in Italy, I was happy to with this new client who contacted me from Montefiascone, a town near Bolsena.
The stained glass piece that was required was quite simple. The client wanted a small panel about 40×50 cm with flying wild geese. Everything had to be assembled using very thin 3.5mm lead cames.
What was totally new for me was the plan to use gold leaf in the stained glass to make the beaks of the wild geese shine.
Having never personally worked with gold leaf before, I immediately contacted my friend Nicola Rotiroti who has used gold leaf in his paintings and he kindly explained to me how to use it.
I decided to insert the gold leaf between two 2mm thick float glasses, I also decided to paint the small glass fragments where I had to apply the gold leaf with an orange grisaille to highlight its gilding.
The operation required great precision, using tweezers and small brushes to apply the gold leaf. I sealed the edge of the two pieces of glass with silicone so as to keep the black cement from getting between them.
Shortly after delivering this work, the client satisfied with our work asked us for two more panels. The three gold leaf stained glass were placed in the same environment in harmony with the modern design based on white and gray.
Creating these windows using gold leaf has fascinated us a lot, IKO Studio is always happy to develop customized commissions with the help of architects and interior designers using new techniques.