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Oil Painting - Reverend Judah Champion (1729-1810)

1970-04-11

Oil on canvas, full length portrait of Rev. Judah Champion, (1729-1810). He sits slightly turned to the left, in a red upholstered chair trimmed with brass tacks. He wears a powdered wig, clerical black robe, white collar, black shoes with silver buckles. In his left hand he holds a large book, his right hand resting on a piece of paper on a table covered in green felt. On the table a pewter inkwell, two books and a quill pen. In the background, two bookcases on the left filled with books, on the right behind the sitter, a red drapery with gold fringe and tassel. The frame is a trompe l'oeil detail, 3 1/2" around painting.

SITTER: Rev. Judah Champion, (1729-1810) of East Haddam, CT graduated from Yale in 1751. Following his ordination in 1753, he was called to Litchfield to the Congo Church. In 1758, he married Elizabeth Welch of New Milford, they had three children. He was minister until 1798. ARTIST: Ralph Earl was born in Worcester County, Massachusetts to a family of farmers and craftsmen. A Loyalist, Earl refused to fight during the Revolutionary War, eventually fleeing to England and leaving his wife and children. In England, Earl studied in the studio of well-known American artist and expatriate Benjamin West. He returned to America after the war with a new wife and established himself as a portraitist in New York. Alcoholism and growing debt landed Earl in prison from 1786 to 1788. With the aid of New York patrons, he regained his freedom through portrait commissions and settled in Connecticut. His straightforward portraits and occasional landscapes are noted for highlighting the achievements and material wealth of his Connecticut clientele.

• Earl, Ralph, 1751-1801

1789

Painting: 51 1/2" x 73"

• oil
• canvas