When one thinks of Tiffany do light blue boxes and beautiful jewelry comes to mind? Perhaps, like me, you think of the movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. (click below to watch the opening sequence.)  I also think of stained glass windows and lamps with his unique way of layering color.  They are all stunning and gorgeous. Or if you are like my fortunate friends Kelly and Guy, you actually own a Tiffany glass lamp. Go Kelly and Guy!

Well this week for Museum Monday I did not actually go to a museum, I visited the American Church in Paris, one of only a handful of places outside the US that actually have Tiffany Windows, two of them in fact.  Both have been classified as National Monuments by the French government. The two windows were commissioned in 1901 by a wealthy department store magnet who had stores in America as well as Paris. He wanted them for the original American Church that was on the left bank of the Seine, across from where the new church stands and dedicated them to his wife…ah, so adorable. I want someone to dedicate windows to me!

What is amazing about these windows, aside from the fact that you can reach up and touch them they are so close, but the way they are made.  The hands and feet in both windows are painted onto the figures but everything else, the wings, the folds of the clothing are all created layer by layer of thin glass to create the illusion of the folds.  I love the way the upper portion is so bright around the heads giving the feeling of halo’s and as you look down the pictures it becomes darker the lower you look. I originally thought they were lit from behind, however,  where they are placed in the church the light shines through them illuminating each window.

The other stained glass windows throughout are stunning as well and as in most churches create a story with-in each panel.  The first one below is The French-American Alliance/War Memorial Window (French soldier c.1781, General George Washington, Marquis de Lafayette, US soldier c. 1917) and the second one is The Patriarchs Window (Enoch, Abraham, Melchezedec, and Moses)  I love the church and it seems to fill my soul while I am here in Paris…and I will be singing here for the AAWE shindig in a couple of weeks too…not in the church, but maybe I can get a gig there in the future.

One last picture from Breakfast at Tiffany’s for you…It looks just like the parties we have at our apartment here in Paris! Sometimes I feel just like Holly Go Lightly.