The Lightbearer - Springfield, MA - Stained Glass Windows on Waymarking.com

The Church of the Unity was a Richardson Romanesque style Unitarian Church which was the first commission by the noted architect Henry Hobson Richardson. It was demolished in 1961. The stained glass window by Louis Comfort Tiffany was saved from demolition and given to the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum. It is now on display at the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts Museum. Both museums are part of the Springfield Museums Complex at the Quadrangle. Admission allows you into all five Springfield Museums. Link

Louis Comfort Tiffany
American, 1848 - 1933

Designed by Edward Emerson Simmons
American, 1852-1931

The Lightbearer, 1894
Stained Glass

This Tiffany stained glass window was commissioned in 1894 as a
memorial to Samuel Bowles II and his wife Mary Bowles was the
editor of The Springfield Republican a role he inherited from his
father, the who founded the paper. The window hung in
Springfield's Church of the Unity, which was the first
commissioned building by the famous architect Henry Hobson
Richardson (1838-1886) The Lightbearer is an outstanding
example of the use of drapery glass, a hallmark of Tiffany
glass work The technique uses heavily folded glass sheets to
replicate the creases of robes or hanging drapes. The window was
designed by Edward Emerson Simmons and executed by the
Tiffany studio.

Collection of the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum
Gift of the Springfield Newspaper Employees
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