St. James is privileged to have stained glass windows designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. This is the largest collection of Tiffany windows that can be seen in one building in all of New England.
The process used for most of the distinctive glass in St. James is now a lost art. It uses larger pieces of glass and less leading than traditional styles of stained glass. Some of its shading is achieved by varying the thickness of the glass, or by building up various colors of glass.
With Tiffany stained glass windows, the glass is translucent and light shines through the design, illuminating the picture like a color slide. In the case of ordinary stained glass, if no light shines through the window, it looks dark, and no design or picture is visible. With Tiffany-designed windows the picture is visible even though no light shines through; although the picture seen under these conditions is quite different in character and appearance.
Learn more about Louis Tiffany:
Read about the interesting history of stained glass at St James....
Read Richard Upjohn: analysis of three New England Gothic Revival churches by Jennifer Masengarb, University of Virginia...
