Central Florida’s Best Hidden Chapel Celebrates 25 Years This Fall

Courtesy Morse Museum – The 1893 Tiffany Chapel interior reassembled at The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art.

Beginning on October 15, The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art will mark the 25th anniversary of the installation of the Tiffany Chapel with a special celebration that brings a significant new addition to its galleries. As part of this milestone, the Museum will exhibit one of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s most important glass mosaics, Fathers of the Church, on long-term loan from The Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass in Queens, New York. This monumental mosaic is being reunited with the Tiffany Chapel for the first time in over a century, offering a rare glimpse into the artist’s vision as it was originally conceived.

Created for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Fathers of the Church stands eight feet tall and weighs a staggering 800 pounds. The mosaic features three imposing figures from early Christian theology, depicted in a radiant array of glasswork that exemplifies Tiffany’s mastery of mosaic art. After the world’s fair, Tiffany displayed the mosaic in his Manhattan showroom as a demonstration of his firm’s extraordinary skill and creativity. Eventually, the piece found its way to Laurelton Hall, Tiffany’s estate on Long Island, where it became part of his personal collection of prized artworks.

The loan of this mosaic to the Morse Museum is a rare event, allowing visitors a unique opportunity to witness an iconic piece of Tiffany’s work in the context of the artist’s larger ecclesiastical vision, first displayed over a century ago at the Chicago exposition. In conjunction with this exhibit, the Museum will open a companion exhibition titled After the Fair, which will feature archival materials, fragments from the Tiffany Chapel, and a historical account of the chapel’s extraordinary journey from its original unveiling in Chicago to its current home in Winter Park, Florida.

The Tiffany Chapel, a highlight of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, was originally conceived as a showcase of Tiffany’s Glass and Decorating Company’s abilities in ecclesiastical design. However, the chapel’s survival and eventual restoration were far from assured. After the exposition, the chapel faced numerous threats, including a fire at Laurelton Hall and years of neglect, during which it was stored in the crypt of the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City. It was Jeannette Genius McKean, the founder of the Morse Museum, and her husband Hugh F. McKean, who ultimately rescued the chapel. In 1957, following a devastating fire at Laurelton Hall, the McKeans salvaged key components of the chapel, including its columns, leaded-glass windows, and altar, which were brought to Winter Park for safekeeping.

In 1997, the Morse Museum embarked on a significant conservation effort to restore the Tiffany Chapel, relying on period photographs, drawings, and firsthand accounts. After two years of meticulous work, the chapel was opened to the public in April 1999, allowing visitors to experience the wonder of Tiffany’s ecclesiastical designs as they had been envisioned for the 1893 world’s fair. Over the past 25 years, the chapel has become one of the Morse Museum’s most cherished exhibits.

“This is a story of something that was loved but not lost. After the fair, the chapel could have been lost forever―left in ruins in the crypt of the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, or destroyed by a fire at Tiffany’s mansion,” remarked Jennifer Perry Thalheimer, the Morse Museum’s Director and Chief Curator. “The fact that it’s been here at the Morse for visitors to savor for 25 years is a miracle.”

The public is invited to join the Morse Museum in celebrating this landmark anniversary and the Tiffany Chapel’s remarkable journey, beginning October 15, 2024. Visitors will have the rare chance to see Fathers of the Church alongside the chapel for the first time since the 1893 world’s fair, in a celebration of both the art and the historical significance of Tiffany’s work.

Courtesy Morse Museum – Detail, columns from the 1893 Tiffany Chapel interior reassembled at The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art.

For more information on the Morse Museum and its collections, visit www.morsemuseum.org. The museum houses the most extensive collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany, including architectural elements from his famed Long Island estate, Laurelton Hall, along with a variety of American art from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.