The Righteous Shall Receive a Crown of Glory

This window was designed by Frederick Wilson, head of the ecclesiastical department at Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company (later Tiffany Studios) and Tiffany’s most prolific designer of religious windows. When Tiffany was establishing himself as a successful interior decorator, outfitting church interiors was a booming business. The ecclesiastical department, a successful part of Tiffany’s brand, oversaw the design, production, and marketing of all types of church decoration—including large-scale windows like The Righteous Shall Receive a Crown of Glory. The window demonstrates how Tiffany’s designers and artisans transformed the traditional art of stained-glass windows. Except for a few painted areas—the faces, hair, hands, and feet of the figures—the window’s details are achieved through lead lines and colored, opalescent, and textured glass. When viewed from the side, it is easy to see the facets of the large pressed glass “jewels” in the central cross, and the dramatic folds of “drapery” glass (created by manipulating hot glass into ridges) in the angels’ clothing. The ingenious combination of flat and textured glass delivered incredible depth and detail to the studios’ window production. This window had a memorial panel at the bottom, but it was removed in order to fit the window into this gallery. The memorial panel reads: “The Righteous Shall Receive a Crown of Glory” To The Glory of God In Memoriam 1811 Charles Green 1901 Memorial panels can provide clues to a window’s original placement and history. This window’s memorial panel led to the discovery that it was commissioned by Ira Dewayne Brainard (1846–1914) and his wife, Mary Genevie Green Brainard (1846–1931) for the United Methodist Church in Waterville, New York. It was likely installed during the church’s renovation in 1902 and was removed when the church building was sold in 1967.