Artists have been painting on glass for hundreds of years. As glass was first made in Venice, Italy, it is appropriate that glass painting began there, with works documented as far back as the 13th century. But the roots of glass painting go back even further to the 4th or 5th century where glass fragments decorated with gold have been found embedded in Roman tombs.

As time passed, the secret of making glass escaped Italy, and glass painting techniques followed the glass. Works are well documented in France beginning in the 13th century, Germany beginning in the 17th century, and China beginning in the 17th century.

Often the paintings are meant to be viewed from the back side, in which case the term “reverse painting on glass“ is used. The French often included gold leaf in their glass painting work. When gold has been used, the work it is called “verre eglomise”, or just “Eglomise”. Eglomise is often used to describe much of the French glass painting in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.

Many twentieth century artists have painted on glass, including Wassily Kandinsky, Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Marcel Duchamp and Marsden Hartley.