Reverse glass paintings

Reverse glass painting is a technique used in several areas of the world, and its first use dates from the Middle Ages. The technique is so called because paint is applied to the underside of a piece of glass, "painting on the reverse side".

We have a fairly large collection of reverse glass paintings, mostly from India, but also from Romania and Senegal. Romanian glass paintings have always had a religious theme and they normally come from Transylvania. Our Romanian paintings are at least seventy to eighty years old. The technique spread to India and Senegal from Europe in the early 1800's and became very popular in both countries during the 19th century. This traditional technique continues in both countries to this day.