Rendering 3

            The article published on the website of the newspaper “The New York Times” on December 31, 2012 is headlined “Spiritual Landscapes of the Gilded Age”. The article repots that organized by Patricia C. Pongracz, the museum’s acting director, and the exhibition’s main attraction is a selection of 10 small- to medium-size windows, backlit and glowing. They are not the most impressive of Tiffany productions, as his most ambitious ones are still part of the fabric of churches all over New York City 

            The article informs us that there are of three types: landscapes, semiabstract cruciform compositions and figurative illustrations of biblical scenes. All are made of opalescent glass, a material that Tiffany and his competitor John La Farge developed through extensive experimentation that enabled variations of color, luminosity, shading and texture unknown to stained-glass artisans of previous times.

            It was revealed full descriptions of these types. The landscape windows are the most compelling. They were designed by Agnes Northrop. In a style related to Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts, her windows picture peaceful vistas through groves of trees and blooming foliage to brooks and still waters, mountains and luminous, fair-weather skies.  In the more abstract works like one based on an antependium — a traditional type of banner, the profuse ornamental patterning and the illuminated colored glass still exert much visual magnetism.

The figurative windows are fatally infected by Victorian sentimentality. In one based on a popular painting by the British artist George Frederic Watts, the Christian knight Galahad— in a full suit of armor, pausing with his white horse to meditate on his quest — is a vacuous doll.

            The article informs us that viewers may also notice that there are no representations of Jesus crucified or undergoing other agonies of the Passion. The dark side of the Christian mythos — its preoccupation with sin, suffering, judgment and redemption — is missing. 

Many churches often expanded to include spaces for educational programs, kitchens and dining rooms, and bowling allies and basketball courts to attract the younger set. 

            I can say that Tiffany participated in the degradation of art into decoration and religion into entertainment. His was the god of art and business. But no one can deny that he oversaw the production of some exceedingly beautiful things.