Eternal Light: The Sacred Stained-Glass Windows of Louis Comfort Tiffany

Eternal Light: The Sacred Stained-Glass Windows of Louis Comfort Tiffany focuses on the design and production of Tiffany’s ecclesiastical window commissions, and explores these works in the context of both the art and social history of the period. 

At the heart of the exhibition are eleven outstanding, religiously themed windows made between 1880 and 1925 that demonstrate the signature designs, working methods, techniques, and production styles of Tiffany and his workshops. Works have been drawn from major public and private collections across the United States, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass, and the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art. 

The exhibition also includes a number of works that have not been on public view since the closure of the Richard H. Driehaus Gallery of Stained Glass at Navy Pier in 2016. 

Eternal Light: The Sacred Stained-Glass Windows of Louis Comfort Tiffany has three distinct sections. Tiffany’s Process: The Making of a Stained-Glass Window, examines the progression of an idea from design to finished product within the workshop’s Ecclesiastical Department. Tiffany and the Chicago World’s Fair, presents the marketing genius of Louis Comfort Tiffany and, in particular, the firm’s successful efforts to promote its services to Christian congregations and their patrons. The final section of the exhibition, Eternal Light: The Windows, presents ten stained-glass windows and one memorial chandelier, demonstrating the incredible creative and artistic capacity of the Tiffany firms. 

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website

Top Left - Tiffany Studios, American (1902-1932). I Am the Resurrection and the Life, 1902. Painted and leaded glass. The Collection of Richard H. Driehaus, Chicago, 40058. Photograph by Michael Tropea, 2018.

Top Right - Tiffany Studios, American (1902-1932). Guiding Angel, ca. 1915-1920. Leaded and enameled glass. The Collection of Richard H. Driehaus, Chicago, 40105. Chicago. Photograph by Michael Tropea, 2018.