Claude Courageux is a distinguished French stained-glass artist and restorer whose career bridges the technical traditions of the twentieth century with the preservation of France’s Renaissance glass heritage. Born on 8 August 1938 in Beauvais, he was trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he studied design and glass under some of the leading practitioners of the post-war period. Early in his career he collaborated with several noted Parisian ateliers, notably working under Max Ingrand, from whom he absorbed a disciplined approach to structure, light, and colour, and spending seven formative years with the firm of Jacques Gruber, inheriting the refined craftsmanship of the Nancy school.

In 1962, Courageux established his own studio, soon gaining recognition for his dual expertise as both creator and conservator. His profound understanding of historical technique made him one of France’s leading specialists in the restoration of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century stained glass, a field demanding the rare balance of historical fidelity and technical innovation. Among his most important conservation projects are the restoration campaigns for the windows of Amiens Cathedral, Châlons-en-Champagne, and his native Saint-Étienne de Beauvais. These endeavours combined precise documentation, traditional pigment work, and an architect’s sensitivity to the interplay of light within Gothic structures.

Courageux’s own designs continue the lineage of French stained glass rooted in clarity, proportion, and luminous restraint. His work reveals a deep respect for historical precedent while allowing the glass to breathe with the living light of the present. His atelier’s output, though modest in scale compared with industrial studios, has exerted an enduring influence through its uncompromising craftsmanship and scholarly integrity.

In 2009, tragedy struck when a major fire destroyed his studio, consuming much of his archive and several sixteenth-century panels that had recently undergone restoration. The loss underscored both the fragility of the medium and Courageux’s lifelong dedication to its preservation.

Claude Courageux remains a figure of quiet distinction in the modern history of French stained glass—an artist whose legacy rests not only in the works he created but in the ancient masterpieces he safeguarded for future generations. His career embodies the continuum between artistry and stewardship, the creative and the restorative, united by an abiding reverence for light transformed through glass.