Recently my wife and I were at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven and saw a portrait of Dr. Ezra Stiles, who was the President of Yale University from 1778 to 1795. The minute I saw the portrait I knew I had to copy it. The copy is now done, and I thought it would be interesting to unpack the symbolism found in the portrait. The original is 34 inches high, but I opted for a smaller 24 inch height. The portrait was painted in 1771 by a Samuel King when Stiles was 44. At the time he was the pastor of Second Congregational Church in Newport, Rhode Island. And, much to my disappointment, it turns out that Stiles was a slave owner. Damn. Here he is sitting in his wonderful study, surrounded by books, and he had two slaves.
Stiles was quite interested in biblical languages, and by the time he became President of Yale he was fluent in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic, and even delivered a commencement address in those three languages. As President he was also the first professor of Semitic Languages.
Typically for the time, Stiles had his portrait painted with a bookshelf with the titles clearly marked. This was not intended to be an actual depiction of a bookshelf, just a representation of books he undoubtedly owned. Eighteenth century portraits of clergy often featured such bookshelves, just as portraits of wealthy merchants would sometimes include a stack of ledgers and documents. This portrait has a collection of books that Stiles undoubtedly selected carefully to indicate what the well-educated minister should be reading at that time. From left to right, top to bottom here are the books:
Newton Prin. Isaac Newton, Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Latin for "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy"), first published in 1686 and revised in 1713 and 1726. Newton's major work revolutionized science and still is a major influence today. His theories concerning gravity still form the basis for physics.
Plato. The Greek philosopher needs no introduction. A student of Socrates, Plato developed a form of idealism in which the real world that we know is but a shadow of the ideal world above. His work was very popular in the early history of the Christian Church until the rediscovery of Aristotle's work in the early Middle Ages. Platonic thought even makes its way into the New Testament, in which the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews uses Platonic idealism.
Watts. Isaac Watts (1674-1748) was a British non-conformist (non-Anglican) minister and is best remembered as the author of many hymns, a number of which are still sung today, such as "Joy to the World," "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," and "O God, Our Help In Ages Past." Watts also wrote poetry. On the spine of this volume appear the names "Hooker" and "Mather," referring to Thomas Hooker (1586-1647), a Congregational minister and the founder of Hartford, Connecticut. "Mather" refers to the three generation line of Boston clergy, including Richard Mather (1596-1669), Increase Mather (1639-1723), and Cotton Mather (1663-1728) who dominated the Boston religious scene for nearly a century.
Dodderidge. Philip Doddridge (1702-1751) was a British non-conformist (non-Anglican) minister, the author of many hymns and books including The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul and the Family Expositor, a 6 volume commentary on the Bible. The spine of this volume also has two names, "Chauncy" and "Cotton." "Chauncy" is Charles Chauncy (1705-1787), a prominent Boston minister and a leader of the "Old Light" faction that arose during the Great Awakening in opposition to the "New Light" theology of Jonathan Edwards and others. Chauncy and the "Old Lights" emphasized a rational theology that was not based in emotion, in contrast to New Light theology that focused on the need for conversion. "Cotton" refers to John Cotton (1584-1652), yet another prominent Boston minister who was caught up in the Antinomian Controversy of 1636-38 that led to the banishment of Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams, among others. This controversy focused on the idea of an indwelling God, an idea contrary to the rationalistic theology of the time.
Cudworth Intel. System. Ralph Cudworth (1617-1688) published his The True Intellectual System of the Universe in 1678. Cudworth was a vigorous opponent of materialism and atheism, and saw both in the writings of Thomas Hobbes, author of Leviathan.
Eusebiu. Hist. Eccl. Eusebius of Caesarea, a bishop in Caesarea in the late third and early fourth century, wrote a number of works including his Ecclesiastical History, which covers the first three centuries of the Christian Church. He also wrote a biography of the emperor Constantine.
Livy (Titus Livius) wrote a long history of the Roman people beginning with the foundation of Rome through the reign of Augustus. He was often seen as a model historian.
Du Halde’s Hist. of China. Jean-Baptiste Du Halde (1674-1743) was a French Jesuit historian. He published his General History of China in 1735, and it was quickly translated into English and published in 1738. It offered a comprehensive overview of the geography of China along with its history, culture and religion. Du Halde never travelled to China himself, but based his work on the eye witness accounts of a number of Jesuit missionaries.
Rashi’s Commentary on the Talmud. Rabbi Shlomo Itzhaki (known by the acronym “Rashi” (RAbbi SHlomo Itzhaki) lived in France from 1040-1105. His commentaries on the Talmud and the Torah have been influential in the development of Jewish thought since his time.
After looking at this shelf of books, several things become clear. Stiles saw Christian theology and faith in a rational manner. It is telling that the works of Jonathan Edwards do not appear on his shelf, while the name of Charles Chauncy appears on one of the books. Stiles was also very interested in science, hence the presence of Newton’s famous work on his shelf. This brings us to the mysterious symbols to the left of Stiles.
First, the strange design in black on the column to Stiles’ right. This is the pattern of the orbit of a comet. The circle represents the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. The long elliptical orbit is of a comet, which travels far away from the earth before returning. Without a doubt, this is a picture of the orbit of Halley’s Comet, which was first identified by William Halley in 1758. Undoubtedly Dr. Stiles knew about the comet and was interested in the science, again as demonstrated by his interest in Newton.
In the upper left corner of the painting is a turquoise blue disk with the name of God (YHWH) in Hebrew letters at the center. Above the Tetragrammaton, as it is called, are the words “All Happy in God.” Around the center are three concentric rings of what appear to be meteors or comets rushing away from the center. A cross is at the bottom of the disk with two smaller circles of meteors. One can only assume that the movement of the meteors symbolizes the radiance of God’s name.
This painting is a fascinating look into the mind of one of Connecticut’s most prominent clergy during the 18th century.
