Rose Windows with Paper Snowflake Tracery

ROSE WINDOW, STRASBOURG CATHEDRAL, AUSTRIA, 1290
(rebuilt in 1845 following damage from a storm)
Art Style: Gothic
Art Terms: Stained Glass, Rose Window
Activity: Watercolor, Paper Cutting
Materials: coffee filters, markers (ones that are water-soluble, so anything in our closet OTHER than the colored sharpies), black construction paper, scissors, glue stick, and a spray bottle filled with water

This is a nice project to do in December as it is festive and wintery, yet you can still have a substantive discussion about an important bit of architectural art history, rose windows.

Meet the Artist: This slide show has a picture of 2 rose windows. The first is a picture of the rose window in the Strasbourg Cathedral in Austria and is better suited for this lesson since it has more complicated metal work which is more like the effect the kids will create with the black construction paper & scissors. (We have another stained glass lesson which uses the Matisse window, the second slide, as its visual and I just stuck them in the same slide show for convenience). The Strasbourg Cathedral is one of the finest examples of Gothic Architecture in a Cathedral (here's a quick article from wikipedia).

Discussion: 1. What do you see? 2. What makes you say that? 3. What more can you find?

To deepen the discussion, other ideas you could bring in: (1) the idea of symbols. What do you think the designer of the window was trying to say? Do you think that the context of this piece of art, a church, has anything to do with that? (2) Pattern and design: do you see repetition in the design? Why do you think the artist might repeat the design over and over? (3) How do the artist's choice of materials (glass, metal), affect the final product of the art? (How is a window different than a painting, for example? A window requires light in order to see it…How could that be a symbol inside of a church?)

Activity: Have the kids make a pattern on the coffee filter with the markers, and then spray the decorated filter with the spray bottle to see the colors blend together. (*You might want to warn them that when you spray, their design will become blurred. The spraying helps the coffee filter to eventually be more transparent but for some kids, this was traumatic!)  OR you can spray first and the kids can decorate the filters wet. It's totally up to you. The difference is that they can make a more precise drawing with it dried but it doesn't really matter because either way it will end up kind of blurry and abstract.

While that dries, have the kids trace the coffee filter on the black construction paper, making a circle of an identical size. Have them cut out the circle, then fold in half, then in half again (it will look like a piece of pie). Demonstrate how to cut into the sides to make a snowflake. Unfold, glue the coffee filter to it. Voila!

Variation for younger grades: We pre-cut the circles, folded them in half, and drew very simple cutting lines on the circles (if you fold the circle more than once, the kids don't really have the hand strength to cut through that many layers of paper).

Student Work:

(sorry for the blurry pic!)