 |
Nathaniel Schmitt |
Dated: Rome, 1876 |
Oil on canvas |
31 1/4 x 47 inches |
Acquisition: Gift of Miss Maime Clemens, cousin of Mary Elizabeth Boyse and
cousin of Samuel Clemens |
The portrait graces the entry foyer to Samuel Cupples House as one of the loveliest in the
Samuel Cupples House art collection.
Mary Elizabeth Boyse was a niece of Bryan Mullanphy, who willed one-third of his estate to
establish the Mullanphy Emigrant Relief Fund. Decades later, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Cupples donated substantial
charitable contributions to this fund.
Maime Clemens willed over three million dollars to St. Louis University. This generous
benefaction provided property for the expansion of the university. Maime also donated a four-poster
bed to Cupples House that belonged to General Daniel Frost, a Confederate general during the
Civil War. General Frost was taken captive at Fort Jackson, currently the site of Ritter Hall,
but Father Peter De Smet convinced President Andrew Johnson to grant amnesty to Frost. That four-poster
bed can now be seen in the master bedroom of Cupples House, along with some chandeliers and other
antiques that also belonged to General Frost.
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