16 Blessed are Ye when Men shall Revile You and Persecute You

Osgood Memorial Window

Signed: Louis C. Tiffany/New York – Dedicated November 30, 1930

This is your final window on the tour. Thank you for taking the tour and please consider supporting our continued restoration of these lovely national treasures.

This was the last window produced for the Arlington Street Church, approximately a quarter-of-a century after Wilson’s original designs. A variation of this watercolor/gouache is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. By the time of its glazing, both Tiffany and Wilson had left the studios, and it is not known who supervised its production. The window is brighter in tone than those of the other Beatitudes in this series, and is devoid of both hand-faceted glass jewels and drapery glass. Besides the difference in time and production oversight, there are several ways that this window is distinctive. This Beatitude personification lacks angel’s wings. Instead, she is clad in silver armor; her chain mail skirt is rendered through a painted pattern in the sheet of glass that then was covered by a plain glass sheet. In contrast to Wilson’s original figures, which held emblems of peace, the accompanying cherubs both carry shields. The one on the left also holds a palm branch, emblematic of victory, while the other grasps a golden spear. It appears that the sentiment of the original sketch was altered to embody the battle that one must undertake against unjust persecution.

This window honors a mother and daughter who passed away just months apart of one another. Fanny C. Osgood (1882–1929) was one of the most renowned champion women golfers of this era and a president of the Women’s Golf Association of Boston. Her mother was Mrs. Edward L. Osgood (Hannah Thwing Draper) (1855–1929). Mrs. H.H. Townshend (Hannah Draper Osgood), daughter of Hannah and twin sister of Fanny, donated the window.