Troy's RiverSpark Visitor Center

Tiffany Windows:
A Self-Guided Walking Tour

By Robert Breuer

In addition to having some of the finest nineteenth-century architecture in the United States, Troy, New York also has one of the most concentrated selections of Tiffany windows in a city its size. The windows depict religious, historic and pastoral themes.

Louis Comfort Tiffany was the leading designer and manufacturer of stained glass windows in the 1870 - 1920 period. He created luminous, brilliantly colored windows using techniques he created or adapted, such as opalescent, iridescent, plated, etched, draped, fractured and mottled glass.

Please refer to the map below for locations of the sites listed here.

Map of Downtown Troy Tiffany Window Sites

1. St. Paul's Episcopal Church (Third and State Streets). Tiffany's firm was responsible for the entire church interior, including most of the stained glass windows. The quality and craftsmanship are outstanding. The Vision of St. Paul in the west transept is the first example of flesh-toned glass used for faces. This window and several others were the work of the designer and artisan J. A. Holzer; some of his windows were made while employed at Tiffany and others were made after he left to set up his own firm.

2. Hart Memorial (Troy Public) Library (100 Second Street, between Congress and Ferry Streets). The House of Aldus window, located above the circulation desk, was donated in honor of William Howard Hart and designed by Frederick Wilson. Aldus Manutius (1450- 1515) was a Venetian scholar and printer. The window shows Aldus presenting the proof sheets of the octavo edition of Dante's "Divine Comedy." Aldus adapted the octavo format to secular texts facilitating the production of inexpensive, portable books. He also introduced the more readable italic typeface.

3. Bush Memorial Center, Russell Sage College (First and Congress Street). The building was formerly the First Presbyterian Church, built in 1835 and remodeled in 1873. There are several stained glass widows of interest, including two by Tiffany - the second windows from the altar on each side. Stained glass windows from the Second Presbyterian Church were installed in the basement of the First Presbyterian Church when they merged in 1910.

4. St. John's Episcopal Church (First and Liberty Streets). The church includes three Tiffany windows including: the five-part St. John's Vision of the Holy City (temporarily out for repair); and the Resurrection, designed by Edward Sperry, in the east window. The former is one of the first Tiffany windows to dispense with figures and portray a nature scene. As such it is a landmark window.

5. St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church (Third and Jackson Streets). This church is said to have the most Tiffany windows in any one building in the world. In 1902 the Tiffany company was responsible for the redecoration of the entire interior. including most of the stained glass windows. The windows include 4 in the clerestory with scenes from the life of Joseph, 8 in the nave with scenes from the life of Christ, one to the left of the altar in the old baptistery, The Ascension of Christ in the west transept, and The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, based on a painting by Titian, in the east transept. Also of note are the windows in the chapel and refectory.

For further information on Tiffany:

• Alistair Duncan, Tiffany Windows (New York, 1980)
• Alistair Duncan, Martin Eidelberg, Neil Harris, Masterworks of Louis Comfort Tiffany (New York, 1989)
• Patrick Reyntiens, The Beauty of Stained Glass (Boston, Toronto, London, 1990)

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