Paul Sérusier was born into an upper middle class family in Paris in 1863. He was the student in charge of the studio at the Académie Julian where he had a profound influence over his fellow students Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, Paul Elie Ranson, Edouard Vuillard, Ker-Xavier Roussel, and Félix Vallotton. This group of artists later formed the Nabi group whose theorist Sérusier became.

Born in 1848 to Charles Lewis Tiffany (1812-1902), the founder of the luxury goods firm of Tiffany & Company, and Harriet Aver Young (1817-1897), Louis Comfort Tiffany initially explored a career as a painter, inspired by the work of George Inness (1825-1894), one of his instructors.

Stained glass refers to glass of various colors created by adding metallic oxides to the molten glass; different oxides create various colors. It may be combined with painted glass, which involves fusing pigment onto the surface.