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Chestnut Hill Academy, Henry Memorial Library

Philadelphia, PA

1900-1949

Violet Oakley’s largest mural for an educational institution was Heroism, Service, and Sacrifice, made for Chestnut Hill Academy, a private boys’ school. George and Gertrude Woodward of Chestnut Hill were instrumental in recruiting Oakley to paint the mural in the school’s library, which was dedicated to Charles Wolcott Henry, Gertrude’s brother-in-law. A space about five feet high and eighteen feet long on a wood-paneled wall above the bookcases was allotted for a painted frieze. Library murals typically illustrated a famous work of literature; in this case, the Bible was chosen to underscore the value of religion in the education of children.

Oakley divided the frieze into three biblical scenes of exemplary boyhood inscribed with relevant lines of scripture. Two curved panels at the ends depicted Old Testament episodes in the life of David set in sun-bleached mountainous landscapes: at left, David is shown as the boy-hero who slays Goliath; at right, he is the mentor of his teenage son, Solomon, whom he exhorts to serve the community by building the Temple of Jerusalem. In the larger New Testament panel between them, sacrifice for others is inferred by David’s descendant, Jesus, in the Temple of Jerusalem. A perennial subject of religious painting known as Christ Among the Doctors, the scene depicts the child Jesus engaged in discourse with a group of rabbis and students of the Torah. In the background, his parents, Joseph and Mary, can be seen in the open courtyard approaching the Temple. By portraying family members and the interaction of adults and children, Oakley incorporated the idea that education is an intergenerational responsibility, an idea she continued to develop in the mural program for the Charlton Yarnall House.

Works in Woodmere’s Collection

Study for "Heroism (David and Goliath)," the left panel of the "Heroism (Young David), Sacrifice (Christ among the Doctors), Service (Young Solomon)" mural, Chestnut Hill Academy

Murals

Study for "Service (Young Solomon)," the right panel of the "Heroism (David and Goliath), Sacrifice (Christ among the Doctors), Service (Young Solomon)" mural, Chestnut Hill Academy

Murals

Study for "Sacrifice (The Boy Jesus among the Doctors)," the center panel of the "Heroism (David and Goliath), Sacrifice (Christ among the Doctors), Service (Young Solomon)" mural, Chestnut Hill Academy

Murals

Works in Other Collections

Historical Images

Henry Memorial Library, Chestnut Hill Academy, 1956. Photograph courtesy of Springside Chestnut Hill Academy Archives

Related Works in Woodmere’s Collection

Study of Goliath for "David and Goliath" World War II portable altarpiece, for Indiantown Gap Military Chapel, PA, c. 1945, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 1946)

Study for David, center panel, "David and Goliath" World War II portable altarpiece, for Indiantown Gap Military Chapel, PA, c. 1945, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2015)

Study for David and Goliath, center panel, "David and Goliath" World War II portable altarpiece, for Indiantown Gap Military Chapel, PA, c. 1945, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2015)

Composition study for "David and Goliath" World War II portable altarpiece, for Indiantown Gap Military Chapel, PA, c. 1945, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2015)

Study for David, "David and Goliath" World War II portable altarpiece, for Indiantown Gap Military Chapel, PA, c. 1945, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2015)

Composition sketch for "David and Goliath" World War II portable altarpiece, for Indiantown Gap Military Chapel, PA, c. 1945, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2015)

Composition study for "Boy Christ among the Doctors" stained glass window, before 1920, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2015)

Study for left panel, "Boy Christ among the Doctors" stained glass window, before 1920, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2015)

Study for center panel, "Boy Christ among the Doctors" stained glass window, before 1920, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2015)

Composition study for "Boy Christ among the Doctors" stained glass window, before 1920, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2015)

Scale drawing of tripartite windows for "Boy Christ among the Doctors" stained glass window, before 1920, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2015)

Portrait study of Gertrude Houston Woodward, c. 1925, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2012)

Portrait head study of Gertrude Houston Woodward, c. 1925, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2015)