Study for Louis Comfort Tiffany’s center window for ‘Children’s Window’, St. Peter’s Church, Morristown, NJ 

This is Edwin Austin Abbey’s study for Louis Comfort Tiffany’s center window for ‘Children’s Window’, a preparatory work of uncertain date. We see a figure in a light yellow robe and a blue undergarment, drawn with delicate, precise lines against the grid. The figure looks up to the left, hands clasped at chest level with an ethereal quality. Abbey's use of the grid as a compositional device to achieve correct scale is reminiscent of Durer's use of similar geometric systems. The linear structure contrasts with the naturalism of the robe's folds. This tension makes us question fixed perceptions of space and form. The halo, rendered as a bright yellow circle, contrasts with the softness of the rest of the image. The halo's simplicity juxtaposes against the robe's complexity, emphasizing the conceptual and the concrete. The geometric regularity is a subtle reminder of the artist's hand and the artificiality of representation.