10 Jesus and the Children

Hunnewell Memorial Window

Signed lower right: Tiffany Studios/New York 1904

Window 11 is located upstairs on balcony directly above this window, nearest the altar.

This window tells the story of Jesus’ blessing of the children. While he holds a young child in his arm, he blesses a kneeling youth. A mother, holding her infant, offers it forward as the next to be blessed. The luminous quality of the characters’ faces demonstrates Wilson’s sensitivity to the effects of light, which was also common in Boston School paintings of this era. In the background are majestic peaks, the “River of Life," and a stark sunset of yellows with a rose-tinged sky. One can clearly see both the opalescent effects in the robes of Jesus and that of the mother, as well as the three-dimensional molding of the “drapery” technique.

This window honors Horatio Hollis Hunnewell (1810–1902) of Wellesley. In addition to his roles as a railroad financier and philanthropist, he was an amateur botanist and earned the distinction of being one of the most prominent American horticulturists of the 19th century. Gilman had designed Hunnewell’s private home, and as a member of the committee that oversaw the building of the Arlington Street Church, he encouraged the architect to submit a proposal. The window was donated by one of Hunnewell’s daughters, Mrs. Robert Gould Shaw (Isabella Pratt Hunnewell) of Wellesley, whose husband founded the Shaw Theatre Collection at Harvard University. Shaw was the cousin of the same-named Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (1837–1863), the famous Civil War hero of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment of African-American soldiers.