This landmark study is the first to look closely at the stained glass produced between 1250 and 1325 in western France during the late Capetian era. Generously illustrated with a wealth of color and black-and-white images never before published including many from French churches now closed to the public, Lillich greatly expands our knowledge of both the art and the society from which it emerged.

The period Lillich chronicles begins with the region's new vitality following the knights' return from the crusades and ends with the onset of economic uncertainty and unrest that preceded the Hundred Years' War. She reveals that the stained glass of this 75-year span is forceful and uninhibited, dramatic and dazzling, characteristic of what we now term expressionism. Lillich tracks and identifies painters, glazing shops, working methods, models, and sources to argue that the stained glass is a major style with its own developmental evolution and character, putting to rest the notion that this art is merely transitional and provincial.

Meredith Parsons Lillich is Professor of Fine Arts at Syracuse University in New York and the author of The Stained Glass of Saint-Père de Chartres (1978).

“This substantial volume . . . focuses upon a period that had received little attention from previous scholars. . . . Some of the glass has been the subject of previous books and articles by the author, but much is in print here for the first time, notably the chapter on Evron, a monument that has never been published fully before. The book therefore fills a gap, and the interest of the glass is shown amply to justify the study. . . . Throughout the book Lillich presents a variety of supporting material for the history, architecture and patronage of the communities, buildings and glazing that she studies, bringing them vividly back to life.”—Burlington Magazine

“Lillich has produced a most impressive volume which considers developments in stained glass in the years 1250 to 1325 in the region of France west of Paris, extending from Rouen in Normandy to Poitiers in Poitou, and as far west as Dol in Brittany. This study argues for important regional styles and ateliers, and downplays the concentration on Paris and the Île de France which generally characterizes any work on the Gothic style. . . . The Armor of Light is a demanding book to read, but very rewarding to those who persevere.”—Parergon

“an informative text identifies painters, glazing shops, working methods and models, whilst many illustrations are published for the first time and include examples from French churches now closed to the public.”—Art Book Survey

“The book is finely detailed, incredibly thorough, solidly scholarly, exquisitely well illustrated and footnoted, and so readable. The reader will be amused while being educated.”—Stained Glass

“An exhaustive, dense compendium of detailed information, readily accessible . . . [and] extremely useful as a reference source.”—Choice

"Stimulates the reader to a fresh understanding of well-known monuments and also introduces a great deal of material unknown even to the specialist."—Stephen Murray, Columbia University