Painting Pictures In Glass and Light

Last updated on: July 20, 2012 at 10:05 am by Lori Erickson

Painting Pictures In Glass and Light 2012-07-20T10:05:20-06:00 Lori Erickson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Good Shepherd window in St. Luke’s Methodist Church in Dubuque (Lori Erickson photo)

Let me begin by thanking everyone who left such thoughtful comments on my previous blog post about the death of my friend Teri. I always learn from you and appreciate your insights–my gratitude goes to Susan, Rebecca, Mississippi Pilgrim, Jim, Anne, Darcy, and Annechien, and to those who sent private notes as well.

Turning to happier subjects, today’s post is an excuse to post some beautiful pictures.

If you’re like me, you’ve probably heard of Tiffany stained glass windows but never given much thought to what makes them unique. So I was pleased to get the chance to visit St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Dubuque, Iowa, which has a splendid collection of stained glass windows designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Comparing your run-of-the-mill stained glass window to a Tiffany one is (with a hat tip to Mark Twain) like confusing a lightning bug with lightning.

Louis Comfort Tiffany became fascinated by stained glass while touring the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 1865. What he saw there made him realize that the quality of contemporary stained glass windows was far inferior to those created in the Middle Ages (and anyone who’s seen the windows at Chartres Cathedral or Notre Dame in Paris would agree). During Tiffany’s time, most stained glass was made by cutting transparent glass into shapes and then painting colors on their surface. Tiffany experimented with various techniques to try to improve the process, saying he wanted to “paint pictures using only glass and light.”

Detail from the Good Shepherd Window (Lori Erickson photo)

Tiffany is credited with revolutionizing the craft of stained glass, achieving levels of artistry that are unrivaled to this day. While the glass was still in molten form, he manipulated and shaped it, creating a variety of textures. He also developed techniques for creating sheets of opalescent glass in a wide variety of shades. In the final process, the window would be formed from multiple layers of glass, blending surfaces and colors in a way that made the figures almost three-dimensional. He founded a studio that created thousands of windows across the U.S.

I’d never had the chance to study Tiffany windows in detail before I visited St. Luke’s, and I found their color, delicacy and vibrancy amazing. Particularly intriguing is how the faces in Tiffany windows often have a brighter luminosity than the rest of the window, even on a day of little sunshine.

Of all the windows in the church, the Good Shepherd window is the showpiece. The window was created for the Columbian Exposition of 1893, and Tiffany is said to have considered it his finest creation in glass. Jesus is pictured against a background of many hues of green, while his face and the figures of several sheep glow with soft light.

Good Samaritan Window at St. Luke’s Methodist Church in Dubuque (Lori Erickson photo)

The Good Samaritan window, installed in 1916, is another masterpiece, created with deep purple and lavender shades. It shows the Samaritan tenderly cradling the injured man, wrapping his cloak around him for protection. I also loved the “Angel Among the Lilies” window above the altar, a piece given by the Richardson family in 1896 in memory of their 18-year-old daughter. Each lily petal is a separate piece of glass with a different texture, so that they refract the light at a different angle.

On my tour, our guide pointed out the differences between a Tiffany window and one by a lesser artist that was installed in the back of the church. Compared side by side, the two windows have striking differences, making it easy to see why Tiffany creations are so highly prized.

St. Luke’s was founded in 1833, making it Iowa’s oldest congregation. The present Romanesque building was finished in 1897 and included five large and 90 small Tiffany windows. Two additional windows were added in 1916 and another two in the 1930s. Between 1999 and 2002, the church spent nearly $1 million in restoring the sanctuary’s eight large windows.

I think the money was well-spent.

Art and Spirituality

Dubuque

Iowa

St. Luke's United Methodist Church

Tiffany stained glass windows

Previous Post

July 5, 2012

Where Nothing Is Lacking

Next Post

July 23, 2012 A Child Lost in Flight

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Aging & Spirituality Amish Anabaptists Animals Apocalypse Archeological sites Art and Spirituality Awards Belgian Holy Sites birds Blessings Books Buddhism Business & Spirituality Callings Cats Celtic Cemeteries Children Christianity church Colorado Creation Death Desert Spirituality Easter Economics Education & Spirituality Egypt Episcopal Church Faith Fear Films First Nations Food Forgiveness Germany God Good & Evil Good Friday Grace Gratitude Happiness Healing Hildegard of Bingen Hinduism History Holy Rover blog Holy Sites Holy Week Horses Iceland Illness Images of God Indigenous Spiritualilty Interfaith Interfaith Dialogue Iowa Islam Israel Japan Judaism LDS Church Lent Machu Picchu Martin Luther Media Meditation Monasteries Museums Music Music and Spirituality Musings Mysticism Native American Nature New Age New Zealand Norse History/Culture/Spirituality Orthodox Paradox Paranormal Peru Philosophy Pilgrimage Poetry Politics Pop Culture Pilgrimage Sites Prayers sermons Silence Social Media Spiritual writers Spirituality and Food Spirituality and Social Media Stone Circles Thomas Merton Turkey Uncategorized Unconventional Holy Sites Utopian communities Videos Virgin Mary Wicca Work World War I Writing Zen

Select a Month August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the youngest friend who rebuked Job and the other friends?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Elihu Bildad Zophar Eliphaz