Tiffany's 'Jeweled' window shines again after major restoration at Chicago church

CHICAGO - A treasured piece of Chicago history is shining once again in the South Loop.

After more than a year of restoration work on the East Coast, Louis Comfort Tiffany's famed "Jeweled" window has returned to Second Presbyterian Church of Chicago, marking a major milestone in efforts to preserve the landmark building.

What we know:

For decades, dust, dirt, and grime dimmed the vibrancy of the masterpiece. Now, it's bringing light back into the church.

"Some would call this a museum of stained-glass," said Andy Pierce, executive director of Friends of Historic Second Church. 

After years of fundraising and 15 months of meticulous restoration work, Louis Comfort Tiffany's "Jeweled" stained-glass window has returned to the corner of Michigan Avenue and Cullerton Street — where it is housed inside Second Presbyterian Church of Chicago.

"What you're seeing is the summit of many years of work," Pierce said.

Standing more than 16 feet tall, the 133-year-old work of art features 12,000 pieces of glass.

This week, crews reinstalled the window. On Wednesday, they worked to reinforce it with steel bars designed to strengthen the structure of the piece, which dates back to 1893.

"That's the last time anybody saw that window look that colored," said Tom Venturella, founder of Venturella Studio, which restored the window.

For those behind the project, the window represents more than art.

"It's also got big ties to Chicago history, so it's living history that takes us back to some of the first families of Chicago and their industry and their gifts in this art," Pierce said.

Originally donated by Marshall Field, the piece was deconstructed before making a careful journey to New York where Venturella and his team of skilled artisans worked through decades of environmental buildup.

"We are stained-glass conservators, and our specialty over these many years has been Louis Comfort Tiffany and the studio's work," Venturella said.

The tedious craft of cleaning, repairing, and reassembling the century-old glass must be done by hand.

"They're all in crates, so the window does not come out in one large section. There were actually 10 crates of glass that made up this window, and we work literally through the crates one after another," Venturella said.

In this case, the glass soaked for at least a week before undergoing additional restoration work. Glass that is not original to the piece as a result of past repairs is replaced with authentic Tiffany glass whenever possible.

"They have a map of how they tracked all of that, cleaned it, reassembled it, and put it back. It is what they do for a living. It's what they have decades of experience in," Pierce said.

Ultimately, their diligent work revealed the window's original brilliance.

"It just redefines patience for openers, but what I love is, it's the history of this place. This is our patrimony. These are American windows," Venturella explained. "These are not imports from Germany and Austria, even though they did some wonderful things, but these are from us. Opalescent windows are totally American. That's an American invention."

Dig deeper:

Nine of the church's 12 monumental stained-glass windows were designed by Tiffany.

To date, four arched windows have been restored as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the church's historic sanctuary.

The restoration of Tiffany's "Jeweled" window alone cost $750,000.

In recent years, Friends of Historic Second Church has worked to restore the Tree of Life mural by Frederic Clay Bartlett, which rests above the main altar, as well as the church's interior chandeliers and exterior doors, among other projects. 

What's next:

Work to reinforce the window will wrap up by the end of the week. Then, protective glass will be installed on the exterior.

Friends of Historic Second Church, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, offers free public tours Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays year-round. More details are available on the nonprofit's website.