1847 DAVID TAPPAN STODDARD. Oil on Canvas of Important Middle Eastern Missionary & Bible Translator

The only extant painting of Middle Eastern missionary, revivalist, and Bible Translator, David Tappan Stoddard [1818-1857]. 

A superbly attractive piece of missionary and Bible translation history, executed c.1847/48. 

Stoddard was crafted from the cradle to be a missionary and Bible translator. By the age of ten, he was already proficient in Greek and Latin. He sensed a call to the ministry and attended Williams College during the period of revival in the late 1830’s; from there he proceeded to Yale. By 1843, he and his wife were sailing to modern day Iran, then the city of Urmia in Persia. They landed at Smyrna in Turkey.

A natural at linguistics, by the time they had reached the eastern-most part of Turkey to enter Persia, with no previous experience, he had acquired the Turkish language as well. After five months in Urmia, his Syriac was so good he was charged with opening a seminary to train the new native Christians as pastors, teaching all courses in their native Syriac. He was built for the region. By 1846, a significant revival began sweeping the region, Stoddard being one of the chief instruments.

However, as effective as he was as a preacher, he and his team knew the translation of the Scriptures into then-modern Syriac, the language of the region, was the hinge upon which the whole door swung. And they set to it.

The present painting was executed when he returned from Persia with the Bible fully translated. He traveled the United States to raise funds for its printing and distribution. You can see the Syriac Bible under his right arm.

I love the image. He returned to the field, had the Bible printed, and died just a few short years after, his job completed.

A beautiful image evoking the influence of the American church, missionary sacrifice, the importance of translation, unreached people groups, and the critical role of the Middle East in the mission of the church.

The work was executed by Albert Gallatin Hoit [1809-1856] and was one of the most prominent portrait painters of his day. He created important large-scale portraits of George Washington, William Henry Harrison, Daniel Webster [for the Revere House], and more. The present work was executed c.1847 or 1848 and used as the basis for the engraved frontis of Joseph P. Thompson's Memoir of Rev. David Tappan Stoddard, Missionary to the Nestorians [New York, 1859]. 

Oil on canvas, 29 x 36 inches. Very finely restored by Baumgartner Restoration in Chicago. Unframed. Superb.