11 Blessed are the Peacemakers

Wheeler Memorial Window

Signed: Tiffany Studios/New York-November 1907

Window 12 is to the right on the balcony towards the entrance.

The angel reaches upwards with her right hand towards a dove, emblematic of peace. In her left hand she holds a banderole that wraps across her wings. The two cherubs grasp each other’s hands with their arms encircling the lower half of the figure. The inscription on the banderole has been painted onto the glass and then plated with a plain glass sheet. Another unique feature of this window is the “Favrile” glass signature. This was first used in 1896 and was generally reserved for the Tiffany Studio’s glassware.

Lawyer Alexander Strong Wheeler (1820–1907) was an attorney who grew up in poverty but rose above his early circumstances. He was one of the founders of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and served on the board of directors of the Second National Bank, alongside his close colleague James Henry Beal, who was memorialized in the window of John the Baptist (4).