Artist/Maker

Unknown

Place Made

Date Made

c. 1835-1845

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

Framed: HOA 37-1/2″; WOA 32-9/16″

Unframed: HOA 30″; WOA 25-1/16″

Accession Number

5551.1

Description

Oil on canvas, three-quarter length portrait of Susanna Schultz as an older woman. She wears a dark dress with a white fringed shawl, pinned over in the front; she also wears a white ruffled bonnet with a blue ribbon and bow tied under her chin. Her face is aged and features are pronounced. She has hazel eyes with peach to yellow skin undertones. She is sitting in a chair and slightly turned right. The background is dark brown. The painting is housed in a recessed beveled gold frame.

The painting has obviously undergone some type of restoration because there is a small label on the back, which reads: Finlayson Brothers / Boston. Mass. / Restorers of Fine Paintings / 739 Boylston Street / COPLEY 7-0066.

See 3878.2 for smaller version of painting by another artist.

History

Sitter: Susanna Loesch Schulz (b.1771 – d.1855) has minimal information about her life pre-marriage. We know that she was born in Nazareth and that her father, Jacob Loesch, died in 1782. At that time the family resided in Nazareth. Susanna was 11 years old and her mother was left with five children to care for. Susanna’s oldest brother, Johann Christian Loesch, was married in 1787 and lived in Salem for the rest of his long life. Little is known about what happened to Susan and her mother and her siblings during the 17 years from 1782 to 1799. She married Theodore Schultz on October 6, 1799. Together they had six children, three daughters and three sons, of whom were twin sons.

After joining her husband in the ministry to Surinam immediately following their marriage, Susanna’s constant violent stomach cramps lead to their departure from the mission field.

See complete biography in file: Career of the Married Brother Theodore Schultz, died in Salem, N.C. Aug. 4th, 1850

Credit Line

Gift of Paul and Sheila Shultz.