The word "stained glass" has occurred from the French vitre (window glass). This art closely related with architecture. As stained-glass windows are called transparent pictures, drawings, the patterns executed from glass or on glass. It is considered that ancient Egyptians became the first to produce color glasses. Then this art has passed to Byzantium where glass blowers used special privileges.

Thanks to it, Byzantium throughout five centuries reserved a palm in the glassmaking field. Having opened the Egyptian secret of color glasses manufacturing, and having improved it, the Byzantium masters could create such architectural masterpiece, as a cathedral of St. Sophia (537 AD. E.).

It is assumed that initially stained glasses were used to design churches’ and cathedrals’ windows in the first millennium AD. One of the earliest known to us now, stained glass was discovered in the monastery of St. Paul in England. It is dated 686 year AD. But for the sake of justice it is necessary to notice that attempts of creation something similar to stained-glass windows were undertaken and before. So in the early Christian basils V-VI centuries windows were filled in with the thinnest transparent plates of a stone (alabaster and selenit) which were chosen so as to form beautiful ornaments. The head of the Christ from Vejssemburgsky abbey in Alsace is considered most ancient of the survived samples. Five fragments from the Augsburg Cathedral are considered as the oldest finished stained-glass windows of Europe. These stained-glass windows are made of bright different colors glasses with painting and tonal shadowing technique use. Later, approximately in the second half of the thirteenth century, so-called Arabian glass windows have appeared in Europe - separate glass parts were inserted into a marble or a stone. In the beginning in such stained-glass windows the floral ornament with red and dark blue colors prevalence was used.

 
Gradually the picture is complicated, human figures appeared in it. Stained glass art development proceeded, and stained-glass windows in Royal church of abbey of Saint-Denis are considered as a new stage. Here in the stained-glass panels have been included not only figures, but also the Christ, Maria and the other sacred biographies texts. One stained glass panel in the Middle Ages consisted often of hundreds glass slices. Then some slices were withdrawn and painted by matte enamel paints and re-fired.
Ready slices were fastened by leaden N-shaped strips. Windows reached a height of six meters, and some - were more than eighteen meters. For durability such big windows divided into panels in area no more than several square decimeters which were attached to a metal lattice located outside. Stained-glass windows were done in the medieval East too. East stained-glass windows were patched from separate slices of glass which were fastened among them by a solution (including cement).
In the Renaissance stained glass to fully become painting and is created on glass on the famous artists’ pictures basis. In XVI century were extended small room stained-glass windows for an ornament of rooms.  In the middle of XVII century stained-glass windows lose their relevance. Life, gaining momentum in various fields of science, requires a "quick" of art, rather than thoughtful contemplation.

Stained-glass revival has begun in the XIX century; however it loses its religious and royal accessory, now stained-glass windows adorn public buildings, private houses.

Presently, in connection with improvement of art processing of glass, the concept "stained-glass window" is expanded also. Stained-glass windows name any decorative glass filling window and doorways, lanterns, plafonds, the arches, domes, continuous planes of walls and even special ornaments of art items.