For the Industrial Palace, glassmakers in Nový Bor are producing a replica of the destroyed Alš's stained glass

Nový Bor – The glassmakers from the Kolektiv Ateliers in Nový Bor, located in the Česká Lípa region, are currently working on replicas of the painted stained glass with a motif by Mikoláš Aleš for the Industrial Palace in Prague. The painted stained glass adorned the eastern and western facades of the building, and the one on the eastern facade has been preserved; the glassmakers will restore it and complete the missing or broken glass pieces. However, the stained glass for the western facade must be produced anew, as nothing survived from it after the fire in 2008.

"On the western facade, there was an oval painted stained glass 'Plowing and Hunting'; we only have a photograph that we managed to obtain, and we have the original sketches by Mikoláš Aleš. By combining these two sources, along with the preserved stained glass, I'm putting together the replica of the lost piece," described today for ČTK the process of producing the replica by Zdeněk Kudláček, co-owner of Kolektiv Ateliers, who is leading the team. The central scene is framed by a painted stained glass border, which is also being worked on, where the glassmakers will repeat the motif from the preserved window.

The central motif is oval and composed of six panels, each window measures six by four meters, and the panel consists of approximately 500 pieces. The base of the painted stained glass is tinted colored glass. "The intensity of the color is achieved through the painting; it is done with glass paint that is fired at around 550 degrees Celsius. We apply it with a brush, but essentially it is not about the color; it's low-melting glass ground to dust, which we mix with turpentine," added Kudláček. Painting stained glass significantly differs from ordinary painting on glass, as the glass panel must remain transparent.

When repairing the preserved stained glass 'Industry and Education', according to Kudláček, the glassmakers must deal not only with missing and broken glass pieces but also with previous repairs. "They were also groping in the dark because it was repaired locally; when something broke, they removed just that part and painted based on photographs as best as they could. And today, it's a bit of a detective story," noted the leader of the Nový Bor team of glaziers. Some parts have completely disappeared; for example, in the photograph of the destroyed window, the wild boar that was originally at the hunters' feet is missing, so it must be added in the replica. During the repairs of the window, part of the plow also disappeared.

The restoration of the stained glass is part of the reconstruction and completion of the Industrial Palace, which burned down in 2008. The work, estimated at around 2.64 billion crowns, began last February and is expected to be completed by a consortium of companies Metrostav, Avers, and Syner in 2025. Kolektiv Ateliers is tasked not only with restoring the historical stained glass but also with producing windows for the replica of the burned left wing by the glassmakers from Nový Bor. "We are proceeding in parallel with the construction; we are a fifth of the way through the painted stained glass, and we have completed about a third of the assembled stained glass," added Kudláček.

The windows of the industrial palace underwent restoration work in the 1950s when the communist government decided to change the function of the complex and converted the main hall of the palace into a social and dance hall. Some parts date from that time, differing in color from the originals. However, by agreement with the preservationists, many of these changes will be maintained, as according to Kudláček, they now have their historical value. In some cases, they will replace sections of the ornamentation to better match the colors.