Ezra Stiles (1727–1795) B.A. 1746, M.A. 1749, 1771
Oil on canvas, 34 x 28 x 1 1/4 in. (86.4 x 71.1 x 3.2 cm)
Bequest of Dr. Charles Jenkins Foote, B.A. 1883, M.D. 1890
1955.3.1
On August 1, 1771, Ezra Stiles noted in his diary: "This day Mr. King finished my Picture. He began it last year—but went over the face again now, and added Emblems etc." Stiles, a prominent Newport minister and Yale professor who later became the seventh president of Yale College (1778–95), carefully selected the emblems in this portrait to reflect his interest in history, religion, and science. He is shown seated in front of a shelf containing books on theology, Chinese and Roman history, and Newtonian science. On the shaft of the pillar is an emblem of the Newtonian planetary systems, and on the wall, a disc inscribed with religious symbols and the words "All Happy in God." Stiles called this "an Emblem of the Universe or intellectual World." When Samuel King, a Newport painter who also worked as a gilder and carriage and sign painter, completed the portrait, the Reverend Stiles pronounced, "These Emblems are more descriptive of my Mind, than the Effigies of my Face."
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