The origin

The first use of stained glass in Modernism dates back to the end of the 19th century. Stained glass windows were very popular during the Gothic period, but they became less common over the centuries until Modernism brought back a wide range of applied arts, including stained glass for both religious buildings and private homes. 

The origin of this recovery in the 1860s can be attributed to the English and the many glass workshops and factories. New workshops sprang up in Catalonia and began manufacturing highly elaborate stained glass. 

Finding the right light balance was one of the most complicated tasks for the master stained glass artist

In Casa Burés, there is stained glass in the concierge booth and the inner courtyard of the Burés Residences. It is made up of large pieces of hand-blown glass that were probably imported from Germany by the Espinosa workshop. The stained glass on the Burés Residences floor was created to be admired from inside the residences. 

Finding the right light balance was one of the most complicated tasks for the master stained glass artist, who chose the most suitable glass pieces in each case to ensure the light was not too bright or too dark. 

Though many period stained glass windows were signed by craftsmen, no signatures of the master stained-glass artist were found on the pieces in Casa Burés. However, they are identitied as the work of Antoni Bordalba, the same craftsman who made the stained glass in the Cercle del Liceu.

The restoration process

The stained glass was in bad condition due to a combination of vandalism and poor maintenance

Stained glass windows are made with very different materials: glass, lead, grisaille paint and enamel, as well as frames that attach the glass windows to the building. 

Common alterations to the windows over time include curves in the glass panels, breaks in the lead lattice, dirt and foreign debris, chemical deterioration of the glass, broken glass and colour changes. 

Looters had stripped the building of many metallic pieces, including the metal in the stained glass windows. To restore this major decorative feature, Bonavista contacted Vitralls Bonet, a family-owned business that has been operating for nearly a century and was founded by the creator of the stained glass windows in the crypt of the Sagrada Família. 

To restore this major decorative feature, Bonavista contacted Vitralls Bonet, a family-owned business that has been operating for nearly a century and was founded by the creator of the stained glass windows in the crypt of the Sagrada Família. 

Vitralls Bonet was able to restore all the stained glass with original materials. Some pieces were broken, but these imperfections were fixed with a special glue. 

In the few cases when a piece had been lost, it was replaced with an identical piece from the period, given that the company has been storing pieces of glass for more than a century. 

All the restoration work was done in the company’s workshop. One of the most complex parts of the process was transporting the stained glass windows, consisting of large panels with very fragile structures, from Casa Burés to the company’s workshop in the Hospitalet district. For the same reason, putting the stained glass windows into place was one of the last tasks to be completed in Casa Burés. 

The restoration team

Vitralls Bonet was founded in 1923 by brothers Josep María and Xavier Bonet. Their approach has been passed down from generation to generation and master to master and features strict respect for traditional techniques and methods, combined with continuous development of new techniques. 

Josep María Bonet passed down the craft to his son Xavier, and the business is now run by Xavier’s son Jordi, a chemist by trade. After the Spanish Civil War, the workshop was involved in the Devastated Regions project, which focused on restoring heritage, and restored the stained glass in more than 700 churches. 

The workshop currently operates under the guidelines proposed by the international organisation Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi in 2004. It has worked on Gothic buildings and Modernist palaces, some of which were designed by acclaimed architects such as Puig i Cadafalch, Domènech i Muntaner and Gaudí. Vitralls Bonet restored the stained glass in Sant Genís church in Torroella de Montgrí, the skylight in the Palace of Justice in Barcelona, and the stained glass in Casa Amatller, Casa Batlló and Santes Creus Monastery. The Santes Creus Monastery stained glass is the oldest in Spain.