By Dan Murphy
After undergoing an approximately year-long, off-site conservation process, The Madonna and Child Window has returned home to the sanctuary of Church of the Covenant in the Back Bay.
Between 1894 and 1897, the sanctuary at the church, located at 67 Newbury St., was completely redecorated by Tiffany Glass and Decorating Co., including the installation of “glass mosaic at the front, the huge art glass lantern and the 42 stained glass windows – 22 decorative windows above and 20 figure windows (often in a landscape),” according to Charlene James, a member of the church and its unofficial historian.
In significant part due to its distinction as having the largest extant Tiffany-decorated church interior in the U.S., Church of the Covenant has earned National Historic Landmark status, added James.
“The Madonna and Child Window is one of the most stunning of the 20 figure windows and one of the very first to be installed in 1894,” James wrote in an email. “It is a great example of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s way of making stained glass – with several new types of stained glass, variegated colors in the glass itself, and varied layering to make the window look more like a 3-D painting in glass.”
The Madonna and Child design was adapted from a painting by French artist Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret, known for his religious and genre paintings of Breton peasants, according to James, while the image was interpreted in glass by one of L. C. Tiffany’s most renowned designers, Frederick Wilson.
“The window creatively expands the scene, with the Madonna and Child in the left transept, a large, luxurious grape arbor on the right, and a grape vine that entwines a cross in the rosette above symbolizing the Resurrection,” wrote James.
The window was removed from the sanctuary on Oct. 17 of last year and transported to the Needham headquarters of Serpentino Stained Glass for the conservation process, which was overseen by Roberto Rosa, principal, together with his business partner, Domenico Iriti.
During this process, the window’s condition was documented using high-resolution digital photography, and rubbings were taken on acid-free vellum paper.
“The rubbings give us sort of a ‘road map’ of the window and its lead matrix, so that we can ensure that each piece of glass is put back in its correct location,” Rosa wrote in an email.
The window was dismantled only where necessary, and each piece of glass was then cleaned with a non-ionic detergent and de-ionized water. Cracked glass was repaired using a conservation-grade epoxy, according to Rosa, while the original lead matrix was preserved and re-used whenever possible.
The final cost for conservation project was $135,000, funded in large part by a “generous grant” from the Henderson Foundation, along with contributions from Church of the Covenant members, according to Kathryn Barry, a member of the church, as well as president of the Covenant Boston Preservation Project – a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the church building itself.
On Oct. 22, Serpentino Stained Glass reinstalled the fully restored Madonna and Child Window in the church sanctuary.
Just ahead of the window’s official rededication during religious services on Sunday, Nov. 9, at the church (as well as held virtually), Lead Pastor, Rob Mark, told this reporter: “The Tiffany windows are a treasure that we steward but do not own. They’re a gift from the past we get to steward for the future, and they tell sacred stories about God’s radiant love for all of creation.”
Visit https://covbospresproj.org to learn more about Church of the Covenant’s Tiffany window collection.