Portraits Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
PA.138 |
Title |
Jacob Rodriguez Rivera |
Artist |
unknown |
Date |
1775 circa |
Description |
Jacob Rodriguez Rivera (1717-1789), a prominent member of a local family of Sephardic Jews and a Redwood member, was a merchant who introduced the manufacture of spermaceti used for making candles. His business partner was Henry Collins, who donated the bowling green upon which the Library was built. Portrait. He is shown seated, three-quarters right, his body nearly full front, wearing a black coat with a white neckcloth and wristbands. His left hand is thrust into the breast of his coat, and his right arm rests upon a table, his right hand extending over the edge of the table, with the forefinger pointing downwards. His powdered hair or wig is of a bluish-gray color, and his complexion is dark and very florid. His dark brown eyes are directed to the spectator. (Park 2:647-8) |
Object Name |
Painting |
Medium |
Oil Paint |
Material |
Canvas |
Dimensions |
H-88.9 W-71.8 cm |
Credit line |
Gift of Emma Rodman and Anna L. Snelling (nee Anna L. Rodman) |
Provenance |
1924 - Gift of Emma Rodman and Anna L. Snelling (nee Anna L. Rodman) This painting was made for Samuel Rodman (1753-1835), a wealthy merchant of Newport and New Bedford who began his life in Rivera's counting-house. At Rodman's death, the portrait was inherited by his son, William Rotch Rodman (1786-1855), of New Bedfo |
Inscription Location |
loan labels |
Inscriptions and Marks |
Jewish Museum 1979 || Maryland Historical Society || Museum of Fine Arts. |
Collection |
Painting |
People |
Rodman, Emma Snelling, Anna L. unknown Rivera, Jacob Rodriguez, 1717-1789 |
Notes |
[Often attributed to Gilbert Stuart]. Formerly #4. "There is some question as to the Stuart attribution of this portrait. Traditionally he has been known as the painter for a number of years, but the late Charles Henry Hart, after a close study, tentatively gave it to the brush of Edward Savage. To us, it appears to have a much closer affinity to Stuart's early work than to the work of Savage as we know it, and Stuart's age when the picture was painted (approximately 20 years) is more convincing as an arguement than Savage's, which was only fourteen. Stuart, too was on his native heath, while Savage had no connection with Newport." (Park 2:647-8) 1953 (15 Feb-15 March) Boston Museum of Fine Arts "Early American Jewish Portraits and Silver"; 1954 (14 Oct-14 Nov) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston "American Jewish Tercentenary" 1963 (10-27 Sept) Newport Art Museum "Touro Synagogue: Ancestors and Memorability, 1763-1963" |
Related Publications |
Annual Report 1935-36 (24), 1952-53 (24), 1954-55 (24) and 1962-63 (20); Annals (47); Minutes 14 July 1924 and March 1953; reproduced, in photogravure, in Commerce of Rhode Island, 1915, Vol. 2; 1915 Massachusetts Historical Society Collections 2 (frontispiece); 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia by Singer ( ); 1957 Encyclopaedia Judaica edited by Roth (1290) |