They captivate us with their vibrant colors, intricate history, and breathtaking splendor. Our gaze is instinctively drawn to them, like a divine light. The art of stained glass is deeply connected to the origins of glassmaking itself. Its discovery can be traced back to the production of iron and bronze, which yielded slag—impure, opaque, and colored silicates that, despite their imperfections, are technically glass.
Church stained glass windows have long served as the perfect medium for illustrating religious scenes such as the Nativity or the Crucifixion. In the Middle Ages, literacy was largely limited to the clergy, and much of the population relied on objects and images to convey knowledge and stories. In this sense, the art of stained glass can be likened to modern-day comics—visual storytelling at its finest.
Stained glass windows also held profound symbolic meaning, representing the divine presence of God. Their ability to transform and channel light created a sense of the sacred, with light perceived as a gateway to the afterlife. Across religious traditions, places of worship share a common goal: to create an atmosphere of peace and contemplation. Beyond their religious and symbolic purpose, stained glass windows have a unique ability to modulate natural light, bathing interiors in colored light that invites reflection and meditation. This interplay of light, architecture, and art is essential to the serene environment of a spiritual space.
Stained glass is far from a trivial creation—it fundamentally transforms the ambiance of the space it inhabits, shaping both its light and architecture in profound ways.
Here are the different scenes you can discover in the Sofia church:
- The Pantocrator, at the back, behind the organ.
- The Resurrection, in the choir, on the right.
- The Annunciation, in the loggia.
- The Nativity: the Word became flesh, in the nave, on the left.
The four evangelists in complementary medallions.
Below, in miniature, from left to right: the creation of birds, of light, of woman.
- The Cross: Christ the Savior, in the nave, on the right.
The peacock, the pelican, the vine and the Church in complementary medallions.
Below, in miniature, from left to right: Cain and Abel, the flood, the golden calf.
Tor Bjurström was born in Stockholm in 1888 to Per Gustaf Bjurström and Gustava Matilda Johanna Johansson.
His father Per Gustaf was a wholesaler.
Bjurström studied at the school of the Swedish Artists' Association in the period 1905-07 under Richard Bergh and Karl Nordström in Stockholm, then with Kristian Zahrtmann in Copenhagen in 1907-08.
After that, Bjurström followed his contemporaries to Paris where he stayed from 1908 to 1914, studying with the painter and master glassmaker Matisse.
It was at this time that he designed and realized the stained glass windows of the Sofia church then under construction.
His teachers and influences also included Van Dongen and Othon Friesz.
From 1927, Bjurström was active as a professor at the Valands painting school in Gothenburg where he also served as curator of an art gallery from 1936.
In 1940, Bjurström joined the State Art Council as a deputy. In 1961, Tor Bjurström received the Swedish Prince Eugen Medal.
