Tiffany stained-glass window reinstalled at historic Chicago church

CHICAGO - Another original Tiffany stained-glass window has been meticulously restored and is now being reinstalled at Second Presbyterian Church in Chicago's South Loop.

"It was in terrible shape," said Linda Miller, President of Friends of Historic Second Church.

Obscured by 120 years of accumulated dirt and warped by buckling frames, the original 1895 Tiffany stained-glass window painting of St. Paul Preaching at Athens is sparkling once again in its original home.

"My heart is singing. It is a wonderful day seeing the glass looking as it should look," said Miller.

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The stained-glass painting's 22 aging panels were dismantled in March of last year. They underwent a meticulous one-year, $450,000 rehab at a studio in New York, whose crews are now placing them – in their spectacular color and detail – back where the artist intended.

"It's an incredible window and it's been hidden all these years under the dirt and the grime," said Tom Venturella, owner of Venturella Studio in New York, which completed the restoration. "I look at the finished product and I see things I didn't even see before because now I'm looking at the big picture."

Seen in person and compared to other Tiffany windows at the church still in-need of similar care, the transformation is nothing short of remarkable.

"It's extremely gratifying. I have to tell you, it's more fun than television," said Venturella.

St. Paul is the second panel to undergo restoration, but there are a total of nine Tiffany windows at the historic church.

If you'd like to see them in person, free tours are offered from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday.