Christ Among the Doctors Window by Tiffany Studios

Attributed to Tiffany Studios (American, active 1885–1932)
Christ Among the Doctors
circa 1900
leaded opalescent and painted glass
85 x 46 in.

This companion window depicts the youthful Christ in the Temple, seated and standing figures gathered closely around Him as He astonishes the elders with His understanding. The composition is clearly indebted to Heinrich Hofmann’s well-known treatment of the subject, translated here into a tall lancet format that heightens the vertical dignity of the central figure and compresses the surrounding heads into an intimate, animated exchange.

As in the companion panel, richly varied opalescent glass and sensitively painted heads and hands create a devotional image of remarkable warmth and immediacy. The luminous whites, golds, violets, and deep blues, together with the strong figural modeling and flowing drapery, reflect the poetic narrative style associated with Tiffany Studios around the turn of the twentieth century, uniting painterly source material with the radiant surface effects unique to glass.