Stained Glass as an Optical Interface:
Surface–Nanoparticles Interactions for Designing Color

Julien PROUST ^1,3, Flavie SERRIERE VINCENT PETIT ^2,3

¹Université de Technologie de Troyes, CNRS UMR 7076
²Manufacture Vincent Petit, TROYES
³ANR Labcom LUMINANO : Lumière - Nano-Optique – Vitrail

julien.proust(at)utt.fr

Traditionally regarded as a decorative or heritage object, stained glass can also be understood as a true optical system in which the glass surface plays a central role in the formation of color. This contribution proposes to revisit historical and contemporary glass-painting techniques through the lens of surface–nanoparticle interactions.

We focus in particular on stain painting processes, where color does not arise from an opaque coating but from physicochemical modifications within the near-surface region of the glass. Ion exchange, diffusion of metallic species, and the subsequent nucleation and growth of nanoparticles in the glass matrix give rise to emblematic transparent colors such as silver yellow and copper red. At this scale, the surface is no longer merely a support: it becomes a reactive interface that governs ion penetration, reduction conditions, nanoparticle morphology, and ultimately the optical response.

This perspective creates a dialogue between the history of materials, glass chemistry, and nano-optics. We will show how modern concepts from plasmonics and optical modeling, including Mie theory, can be used to interpret and, in some cases, predict the resulting colors. At the intersection of art, physics, and chemistry, stained glass thus emerges as an original framework for thinking about surfaces not only as sites of aesthetic creation, but also as platforms for light engineering.