The Life of St. Stephen panel, designed by Louis C. Tiffany, is actually comprised of 13 stained-glass representations of events from our patron saint’s life.
History of the Altar Screen
In 1917, the church commissioned a complete redecoration of the church by Louis C. Tiffany. Part of that project was a new chancel—the space around the altar—that included Tiffany’s Life of St. Stephen piece. The project was funded by Anna J. Magee, a parishioner whose generous contributions can be seen throughout the building. What did the chancel wall look like after Tiffany’s redecoration project?
Back in 1917, there was nothing behind the windows, thus allowing light to stream through the glass and illuminate the Life of St. Stephen.
A Closer Look
The altar screen includes three vertical panels, each with four or five medallions depicting scenes from Stephen’s life. As the first Christian martyr and model deacon, there’s a lot of subject matter packed into this 13-image panel. Click on the images below for a close-up look at each of the panels.
Interested in learning more?
St. Stephen’s historian and curator Suzanne Glover Lindsay wrote a blog post about Tiffany’s alter screen, Saint Stephen, and the redecoration project of 1917.