Filmmaker Nick Dorsky recommended Stan Brakhage to visit Chartres Cathedral during his stay in France. Brakhage, who had seen some reproductions of the stained-glass windows, spent hours observing them carefully. From that visit to the cathedral, the aesthetics of Brakhage changed and became denser. During his trip to France, Brakhage's sister-in-law died and, unable to attend the funeral, he sat down and began to paint on film thinking about death and the cathedral he had visited. Eight months after the loss, Brakhage finished this series that evokes the Cathedral of Chartres, dedicated to his sister-in-law.
