Dr. William Gleason painting   Save
Ohio History Connection Museum Collection
Description: Oil painting showing Dr. William Gleason (sometimes spelled Glysson) at a patient's bedside. Gleason is taking the pulse of the patient, who is shown only as a hand extended through the bedcurtains of a tall-post bed. The doctor sits in a straight-leg, Chippendale-style chair and holds an ivory-handled walking stick in his right hand. An unusual detail is the inclusion of a spur on Gleason's boot, implying that he is on a "house call." Artist Winthrop Chandler created the painting in Woodstock, Connecticut, around 1785, one of a pair of paintings made at that time. The other is a portrait of Mary Kidder Gleason and her daughter Bethia Pitt Putnam Tupper. Winthrop Chandler is thought to be the brother of Mrs. Mary Kidder Gleason, wife of Dr. William Gleason (1750-1793). Chandler's wife was also named Mary Gleason, and was presumably the sister of Dr. William Gleason. Mary Kidder Gleason moved to Ohio in 1800, at which time the portraits were reportedly brought to the Putnam House in Belpre, Ohio, where they hung for many years. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: H27065
Subjects: Chandler, Winthrop, 1747-1790; Artists; Medicine--History; Paintings
Places: Connecticut; Belpre (Ohio); Washington County (Ohio)