Stained glass art was found from Roman civilizations also it has got many stories and moved to many places in the world over the period. Stained glass church windows became more complex in both content and theme. One of the oldest known examples of multiple pieces of colored glass used in a window were unearthed at St. Paul's Monastery in Jarrow, England, founded in 686 AD.

Stained glass was a domestic luxury for wealthy Romans, rather than an art form. Romans in the 1st century AD had glass windows used and many small churches, where these provide color full rays during the sunlight. There are many stained glass church windows were destroyed early 1600s because of religious frenzy and political wars. The medieval artist also discovered that iron filings mixed with powered glass could be formed into a paste that could be painted on glass to depict various images such as, faces, hands and drapery.

In 1878 at a dig in a cemetery abandoned about the year 1000 AD at Sery les Mezieres, Aisne, France, Jules Pilloy found pieces of glass which had suffered from an apparent fire, a lead strip with two channels and a small slab of bone among some charred wood pieces. The bone (might have been a holy relic) pre-dated Charlemagne. Edmond Socard arranged the glass into a small, simple window. A cross patee, from which hung an alpha and omega, were painted and fired on it. This symbol was very popular from the sixth to ninth centuries. Unfortunately, this treasure was destroyed in 1918 during World War I.

England in the mid 1800’s saw a revival of interest in Gothic architecture. Several amateur art historians and scientists rediscovered the medieval glass techniques. Pieces of glass were tested and their color secrets unlocked.

Stained glass windows are often viewed as translucent pictures. Gothic stained glass windows are a complex mosaic of bits of colored glass joined with lead into an intricate pattern illustrating biblical stories and saints lives. Viewed from the ground, they appear not as a picture but as a network of black lines and colored light. Medieval man experienced a window more than he read it. It made the church that special, sacred dwelling place of an all powerful God.

Stained glass artists became glass painters as the form became closer and closer to panel painting. Lead lines that were once accepted as a necessary and decorative element became structural evils to be camouflaged by the design.

Stained glass of the twentieth century is best characterized by a lack of any unique style. Eventually, dependent upon developments in architecture, the stained glass line of work today has found itself in both a precarious and modern situation. In this period, stained glass became a fashionable addition to residences, public buildings and churches. Heraldic glass showing detailed shields and coats of arms on simple, transparent backgrounds was common.