The intrinsic connection between the fortunes of stained glass and those of the Church were yet again emphasised by the medium’s rebirth in the early 19th century. The Catholic revival was accompanied by a rekindled interest in the medieval church, in Gothic architecture and, inevitably, in stained glass. New churches were commissioned, old ones restored, and the daylight within them became colourful once again. The pictorial content of church windows became more varied under the influences of Romanticism, and the Arts and Crafts movement, as well as the reinterpretation of medieval tradition and the Gothic revival. Simultaneously, stained glass began to find its way into secular buildings as the wealthy individuals and families of the day built substantial and opulent homes, and as the increasingly flourishing cities built ornate civic buildings. The object of veneration moved from God to Mammon but the architectural effect of filtering daylight continued to add fascinating, changing colour to interiors.
By the late 19th century, coloured glass had even entered less flamboyant domestic architecture. Architects including Charles Rennie Mackintosh introduced modestly sized stained glass leadlight elements into comparatively modest dwellings, using abstract designs or imagery often inspired by nature.
In the 20th century, technical innovation in glass manufacture and construction techniques allowed new and diverse movements in architecture to change our ideas of what windows could be. While larger panes of glass helped the modernists create their innovative, light-filled and airy structures, and developments such as double-glazing and special coatings helped to create more efficient buildings, other developments influenced artists and designers to use different ways of colouring daylight.