Education (Chittenden Memorial Window), 1889-90
Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) for Tiffany Glass Company
Location: Linsley-Chittenden Hall

Following the death of his daughter Mary Hartwell Lusk in 1871, long-time New Haven resident and Yale patron Simeon Baldwin Chittenden funded the building of a new university library in her memory. Its octagonal reading room, now a lecture hall, holds the structure’s crown jewel, the stained glass window Education, commissioned from Art Nouveau artist and decorator Louis Comfort Tiffany. Known for his mosaics, lamps, furniture, glass, and metalware, Tiffany sought to elevate the industrial arts through constant pursuit of beauty and refinement, often basing designs on floral forms and inventing new glassmaking techniques and colors to rival competitors like John La Farge. In this thirty-foot-wide window, Tiffany composed a visual sermon in keeping with the donor’s values, presenting a panorama of graceful allegorical figures that represent aspects of Art, Music (shown here), Science, and Religion. Gift of Simeon B. Chittenden, M.A.H. 1871