Opens on September 10
The Lightner Museum is thrilled to announce the opening of the “Illuminate: Lightner Museum’s Stained Glass Rediscovered” exhibition. Thanks to a generous donation from Inez McDonald, along with additional donations by the Treasury Venue Collection and the St. Augustine Historic Inns, 15 stained glass windows from the collection of Otto Lightner have been restored.
While some of the windows in this collection were made by Tiffany Studios, this display brings to light lesser-known manufacturers that worked synonymously with Tiffany during the late 1880s such as Willet Stained Glass and Rudy Brothers Glass Studio, both from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The display focuses on portraiture, mythology, and art nouveau, the theme at the forefront of stained glass in the early 1890s.
The restoration process was overseen by RLA Conservation, a group of professionally trained conservators and artists that specialize in historic architecture, artifacts, and sculpture. Over the course of two years, each window was cleaned and repairs were made to stabilize the lead support and wood frame. Custom light boxes built by Building 4 Fabrication provide a seamless display to provide the visitor an unobstructed view of each window. The gallery display will include 12 of the restored windows in addition to the distinguished Tiffany lamp with dragonfly motif.
On September 10, 2020, the museum will open this stunningly unique exhibition on the mezzanine above the pool.
Lightner Museum, 75 King Street, St. Augustine, lightnermuseum.org.
