The world’s longest stained glass ceiling is in Melbourne—here’s where to find it
It was only recently that we discovered the world’s largest stained glass ceiling is in Melbourne, Australia—and we’d visited it dozens of times.
When you think of giant stained glass windows, Europe probably comes to mind. And you’d be right—one of the largest in the world is in the Polish city of Kraków, spanning a basketball court-sized 426 square metres (or 4,585 square feet, if you prefer). Or perhaps you’d think of the one in a megachurch in Kansas City?
But how often have you looked up and admired a stained glass ceiling? There’s one in Melbourne (Naarm), and you can see it for free.
Where is it?
At the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). Enter via St Kilda Road, where you can run your hands across the tactile pleasures of the Waterwall, then head straight through the vast Federation Court atrium to the Great Hall. Look up, and there it is—the breathtaking stained glass ceiling by Australian artist Leonard French.
NGV Stained Glass Ceiling
Step into the Great Hall, and you’ll be surrounded by the multi-coloured lights refracted off the brutalist grey walls. The dozen black steel columns supporting the glass catch the almost 50 different colours dancing across their surfaces as sunlight filters through. It’s like a church flipped on its side, demanding that you look up—or even lie down—to admire it.
French, born in Brunswick in 1928, designed the ceiling for the NGV’s grand opening at its current Southbank site in 1968. He had begun work on it several years earlier, having been commissioned in 1963 for the new building designed by Australian architect Roy Grounds. It was installed a year after his 16 stained-glass windows at the National Library of Australia (NLA) in Canberra.
Described as a “Persian carpet made of light,” the NGV ceiling is composed of French and Belgian coloured glass, which the artist French sourced during a trip to Europe. “Each glass panel tells a story,” writes artist Simon Fieldhouse, citing inspirations from science, the zodiac, and the cosmos. “The ceiling, as a whole, becomes a visual narrative of the wonders of human curiosity.”
Nerdy details: by the numbers
51 metres in length, 15 metres in width
13.72 metres high
Depending on the source, there are 10,000 to 16,000 individual pieces of hand-blown glass. Either way, that’s a lot of glass.
224 aluminium-surfaced plywood panels were constructed
Four people were needed to lift each panel into place
It is supported by 12 slender columns
Features 2.5 cm-thick, three-kilogram glass rectangles in about 50 different colours—all hand-cut
Why you should go
Lying on the floor of the Great Hall to take in the ceiling has been called by the Sydney Morning Herald “a Melbourne rite of passage,” as much as running one’s hands through the Waterwall at the gallery entrance.
It’s free, fully accessible on the NGV’s ground floor, and the perfect addition to a day spent exploring an exhibition, the nearby Arts Centre, or the weekend markets around Southbank.
On our most recent visit, the spectacle was complemented by Yayoi Kusama’s signature yellow dotted globes, prominently displayed as part of an exhibition.
So, next time you find yourself in Melbourne, make sure to stop by the NGV and take in the beauty of the world’s largest stained glass ceiling. Don’t forget to share your photos—tag us on Instagram!
The Great Hall ceiling is located on the ground floor of the NGV in Naarm, Melbourne. Naarm is the traditional lands of the Kulin Nation.