Tiffanies glass and its influences and similarities to the stain glass windows of medieval times.

Tiffany 's Glass and The Stained Glass Windows of The Medieval Era

The artist Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933 ) is widely known for crafting complex stained glass windows , but also respected for his renowned Tiffany lamps . In addition to such pieces , Tiffany created a wide range of art including vases , jewelry and furniture . He developed as a decorator and architect in his own right , as his work has been commissioned for Mark Twain , the White House and creating stained glass windows for various churches

As a young , budding artist , Tiffany traveled oversees where

he was exposed to Roman and Byzantine art and architecture . What truly made an impact on him was the bold medieval glass he encountered . Tiffany was also inspired by the early Christian mosaics of the 12th and 13th century Cathedrals of France

As described in the book Louis C . Tiffany 's Art Glass , he was moved by what he saw : What impressed the young artist and filled his heart with a transport of emotion never felt before , was the sight of the Byzantine basilicas , with their dazzling mosaics , wherein were synthesized all the essential laws and all the imaginable possibilities of the great art of decoration .Tiffany dreamed a dream of Art for the Future : in the fossilized remains of our ancient patrimony .Herein Tiffany saw a providential means of realizing his new aesthetic visions of Decorative Art (Koch ,

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We see parallels with Tiffany 's work when we look at stained glass windows from the 12th century at both the Canterbury Cathedral and Dorchester Abbey in England . Stained glass windows from this period contained deep , dynamic colors , and included renderings of religious figures and scenes . Tiffany would later go on to produce many stained glass windows for churches depicting religious scenarios and deities

Upon viewing Dorchester Abbey 's stained glass window of St . Birinus [Fig , 1] , housed in the building 's north chapel , you see the similarities in Tiffany 's stained glass work and the medieval artists It can be compared to the many religious scenes Tiffany was hired to complete such as his stained glass rendering of St . Augustine [Fig . 2] which is now held in the HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Lightner_Museum " \o "Lightner Museum Lightner Museum in HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /St ._Augustine 2C_Florida " \o "St Augustine , Florida " St . Augustine , Florida . Tiffany 's rich blues , bold reds , and gilded-looking golds , are similar to the stained glass in the medieval churches . Although , when compared to the medieval stained glass windows , we see how Tiffany built upon the same stark forms and hues but created softer and more refined pieces . For example : He softened the boldness of Byzantine pomp into tender harmonies of colour and effect , suitable to the decoration of apartments in which we spend the greater part of time (Koch

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The stained glass of medieval times took on an exuberant color palette , where color choice became more dynamic and the primary colors were incorporated with sections of white...