Sigmar Polke designed the stained-glass windows of Grossmünster in Zürich, completed in 2009. The German artist created seven windows for the Romanesque church, using thin slices of agate alongside conventional colored glass.
The agate sections produce natural bands and crystalline patterns, so each panel has an appearance that cannot be reproduced exactly by ordinary painted glass. Polke contrasted these geological textures with figurative and abstract imagery.
Grossmünster is one of Zürich’s principal landmarks and is strongly associated with the Swiss Reformation. Its older history includes traditions connecting it with Saints Felix and Regula, the city’s patron saints.
Polke’s windows are sometimes mistaken for purely abstract modern glass. In fact, their imagery combines recognizable symbols with unusual materials, creating a dialogue between the church’s medieval setting and late twentieth-century art.