The Eternal Glow of Tiffany’s Sacred Glass

Tiffany Glass Company, American (1885-1892). Designed by Frederick Wilson (American,born Ireland, 1858-1932), “Christ and the Apostles” (ca. 1890), leaded and enameled glass. The Collection of Richard H. Driehaus, Chicago (photograph by Michael Tropea, 2018)

CHICAGO — Mention Tiffany glass and most people will think of lamps with leaded shades. Or maybe the glorious stained glass windows, with landscapes and foliage, Tiffany Studios made for private residences and such public spaces as schools, libraries, department stores, and train terminals. These are the most coveted artifacts. But for the half century following the 1878 installation of his windows in New York’s St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s greatest creative efforts went to the production of stained glass for sacred spaces.

This period corresponds to a period of prolific church-building in America, as cities grew and parishioners multiplied; some 4,000 churches were under construction in the United States in 1888 alone. The demand for church windows fueled the greatest era of stained glass production since the Middle Ages, with lost techniques recovered and a plethora of innovations pioneered by Tiffany and his chief rival, John LaFarge. European church glass of the period featured painted figures applied onto the glass with brushwork and then fired like pottery, dulling the play of light. But Tiffany chose, for the most part, to paint with, rather than on, glass.

Jacob Holzer (American (born Switzerland), 1858-1938), Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company (American, 1892-1902). Design for chancel of Christ Church, Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, New York (ca. 1899), watercolor, gum Arabic, gouache and graphite on tissue or tracing paper mounted on board. Purchase, Walter Hoving and Julia T. Weld Gifts and Dodge Fund, 1967. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Art Resource, NY)

Opalescent colored glass gave his windows their brilliance, but it was merely one weapon in an arsenal that included glass with embedded inclusions, cut facets, beveling, pressed designs, and scrolling effects, as well as folded glass for the depiction of drapery. Mottled glass gave the impression of sunlight through leaves; striated glass looked like light dancing on water; double and triple plating added depth to color and ever-changing effects to the play of light. Molten glass was rippled and cooled to create an atmosphere of clouds. Gem-cut glass added luster, and the combining of colors within single pieces of glass reduced the need for leading, reserving it to render lines for the delineation of figures. The term “stained glass” hardly gets at the vast variety of techniques and range of effects achieved by Tiffany and his peers. It can almost be called sculpted light.

Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company, (American, 1892-1900), possibly designed by Agnes Northrop (American, 1857-1953). Antependium Window (ca. 1892-1893), leaded glass. The Collection of Richard H. Driehaus, Chicago (photograph by Michael Tropea, 2018)

Eternal Light: The Sacred Stained-Glass Windows of Louis Comfort Tiffany, the Driehaus Museum’s small but spectacular exhibition of Tiffany’s ecclesiastical glass, includes a room dedicated to showcasing the techniques used by Tiffany Studios. Visitors passing the vitrines and wall displays can gorge themselves on the ample charms of glass that has been feathered, streaked, mottled, and oxidized. Few materials can charm as these do. Sketches and templates for the stained glass emphasize the labor of production — labor that required an army of designers, craftsmen, and, frequently, craftswomen. Tiffany designed glass himself, and always took a hands-on approach to supervising the process of creation, but others assumed roles of equal importance. The Anglo-Irish Frederick Wilson, for example, was Tiffany Studios’ primary ecclesiastical designer during the period covered here. Figurative groupings and ascending angels — such as those in “Ecclesiastical Angels (Angels of Peace and Mercy)” (1905) — are among his strongest contributions. Agnes Northrop, who spent some 50 years in Tiffany’s employ, was one of the greatest talents at his studios. Her floral and other vegetation motifs, such as those in “Lilies and Palms, Underhill Memorial Window” (after 1895), were derived from her nature photography and sketching tours, and are so distinctive they became central to the signature Tiffany style.

“King Solomon” (c. 1912–23), a Frederick Wilson-designed window, showcases Wilson’s compositional ability and the astonishing skill of Tiffany’s workers. Solomon stands near a temple, his left hand clutching a staff, his right raised in an oratorical gesture. His face and hands are painted in enamels in the style of European stained glass, but the real energy is all around them: in the rippled blue and white glass depicting the sky, in the mottled greens of a palm’s fronds, in the pressed glass jewel forms adorning Solomon’s collar, and, most of all, in the purple folded glass drapery of his robes. The layered panes of glass that compose the drapery — as many as six deep in places — are so rich in color that they convey the power purple had when it was reserved exclusively for royalty and rarely seen.

Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company, (1892-1902). Altar Cross (ca. 1891), gilt-brass, topaz, amethyst, glass. Collection of The Richard H. Driehaus Museum, Chicago (photograph by John Faier, ©Driehaus Museum, 2013)

It is easy to lose oneself in technique, as well as the pure aesthetic delight of light pouring through glass. But this is sacred art, devotional as well as aesthetic in nature. The iconography is of angelic and Biblical figures, and many windows are in the narrow, pointed Gothic shapes common to churches of the period. One large triptych, “Christ and the Apostles” (ca. 1890), evokes the affirmative religious impulses typical of Tiffany’s sacred windows. The scene is the garden of Gethsemane, where Judas Iscariot is soon to kiss Christ, identifying him for arrest and crucifixion. But there are only 11 apostles present in Frederick Wilson’s design; Judas is notably absent from the cluster of figures — their robes a spectrum of colors ranging from blue on the left to deep red on the right — gathered around a central Christ, his face enigmatic rather than melancholy, as it is in so many representations. The background — thick foliage to the sides, hills with open sky beyond — is pure beauty, without a hint of the sadness to come.

In the windows designed by Agnes Northrop, landscape takes precedence over figures, and spirituality is expressed more as Romantic nature worship than overtly Christian iconography. “Poppies and Passion Flowers, Rapelye Memorial Window” (ca. 1915), for example, could be an image out of Wordsworth’s more ecstatic poetry. The window’s arc of flowers framing a landscape of hills, stretching out in a gesture toward nature’s vast sublimity, hints at eternity without invoking saints or angels.

Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company, (American, 1892-1900). Twelve- Arm Benedictine Candelabrum (1893), bronze, molded glass. Collection of The Richard H. Driehaus Museum (photograph by John Faier, © Driehaus Museum, 2013)

A room dedicated to artifacts from Tiffany’s exhibit at Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition includes devotional objects such as a gilt brass, glass, a jeweled altar cross, and a 12-armed bronze candelabrum adorned with glass cabochons. A video display nearby documents the fate of that dazzling exhibit, which also included chandeliers and an altar. It is a sad tale of neglect, decay, and dispersal.

Eternal Light brings together fewer than a dozen windows, and a small number of other artifacts. But in telling the tale of the work’s production, foregrounding its religious function, and noting the vital importance of preservation efforts, it presents the whole ecosystem surrounding and supporting the existence of these objects of luminous beauty.

Tiffany Studios, (American 1902-1932). Male Angel (date unknown), favrile glass. The Collection of Richard H. Driehaus, Chicago (photograph by Michael Tropea, 2018)

Eternal Light: The Sacred Stained-Glass Windows of Louis Comfort Tiffany continues at The Richard H. Driehaus Museum (40 East Erie Street, Chicago, Illinois) through March 8.

The Latest

Three Looted Antiquities at the Met Repatriated to Turkey

Nine other repatriated works were seized from Met Trustee Shelby White, whose collection was subject to a criminal investigation.

Required Reading

This week, the world’s lightest paint, Pakistan’s feminist movement, World Puppy Day, and were some of Vermeer’s paintings created by his daughter?

The Wider World and Scrimshaw

On March 28, join the New Bedford Whaling Museum online and in-person for a symposium on global carving traditions from across the Pacific Rim.

Who Will Decide on the Future of a Miami Native Burial Ground?

Native activists say sacred remains and objects dug up from a Brickell construction site should remain there, but mega-developer Jorge Pérez is pushing back.

How Can a Curator Approach South Asian Futurisms?

How do I acknowledge my shortcomings while reckoning with obscured histories and the exclusion of subaltern narratives in the fine art landscape? A working checklist for curators.

MCA Chicago Presents On Stage: Frictions

Will Rawls, Shamel Pitts | TRIBE, and Barak adé Soleil explore Blackness, queerness, movement, and dance in performances at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

The Complicated Legacy of Camilo Egas

The Ecuadorian painter, a leading figure of Latin America’s Indigenismo art movement, has been both praised and scorned for his representation of Indigenous peoples.

Tom Jones Zeroes in on Ho-Chunk Visibility

“I think about the young kids, the teenagers, and I think being able to see yourself represented in art is so powerful,” says the artist.

Haggerty Museum of Art Presents Tomás Saraceno in Dialogue With Dr. Somesh Roy

The artist and researcher will explore soot’s effects on climate change and public health in this online conversation.

Hundreds of Artworks by NYC Teenagers Go on View at the Met

The talented seventh through twelfth-grade students are recipients of the 2023 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.

NYC’s Flatiron Building Sells for a Whopping $190M

The sale to outsider bidder Jacob Garlick puts an end to the protracted legal battle between the iconic skyscraper’s five former owners.

McKnight Visual Artist Fellows Discussion Series at the Minneapolis Institute of Art

The series features 2021 Fellows David Bowen, Mara Duvra, Rotem Tamir, Ben Moren, and Dyani White Hawk in conversation with renowned curators and critics.

The Best Memes Roasting the “We ❤️ NYC” Campaign

A graphic designer on Twitter created a hilarious send-up of the universally reviled logo, and the rest is history.

Did You Know These Museums Were Free for New Yorkers?

The “Free Admission” campaign is advocating to make ticket pricing information more transparent to visitors, who may be confused or misled by institutions’ language.