NORTH EUROPEAN GLASS OF THE 15th–17th CENTURIES: CENTERS OF THE FOREST GLASS INDUSTRY, HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT AND STYLISTIC FEATURES

Abstract

The study explores the formation and artistic-technological evolution of North European glassmaking during the 15th–17th centuries. This period is characterized by a complex interaction between late medieval craft traditions and the innovative impulses of the Italian Renaissance. The activity of glass huts (huty) as autonomous forest production centers, which laid the foundation for the glass industry in Germany, Bohemia and Ukraine, is analyzed. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that, for the first time, Ukrainian forest glassmaking of this period is considered not as an isolated phenomenon but in an inseparable connection with the North European cultural and technological space. It is established that a shared raw material base, migration routes of masters, and common vectors of Renaissance influence allow for the interpretation of Ukrainian centers (particularly in Galicia and Volhynia) as an organic component of the broader North European forest glass tradition. The study clarifies how the specifics of the raw material base and the localization of workshops directly influenced the formation of the authentic “forest glass” style. It is argued that the massive forms of glassware were not merely an aesthetic choice but also reflected the social hierarchy and banquet culture of the time. Key morphological types of glassware are analyzed, and the advancement of glass mass purification technologies along with the introduction of new decorative methods enamel painting, gilding, carving, and engraving is traced. In the context of pan-European cultural processes, the problem of adapting Renaissance aesthetics to the local demands of northern regions is highlighted. It is established that North European glassmaking did not merely copy southern models but developed its own artistic language, which later became the foundation for the flourishing of Baroque crystal. Particular emphasis is placed on the connection between the development of the glass industry and the shift in the scientific worldview of the era, where the transparency of the material became a symbol of rationalism and new standards of aesthetic perfection. A new perspective is proposed on glass as a crucial artifact of Early Modern material culture, marking the affiliation of Ukrainian lands with the common European civilizational field