Doyle, Thomas Arthur (1827-1886)
Role: Mayor of Providence, Rhode IslandDates: 1864-1881, 1884-1886
Portrait Location: Library-Annex
Artist: Oertel, Johannes Adam (1823-1909)
Portrait Date:
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
Framed Dimensions:
Brown Portrait Number: 56
Brown Historical Property Number: 2239
During his lifetime, Thomas Doyle supported himself in various professions, including accounting, banking, mercantile affairs, and real estate. He is best remembered, however, for his public life as a self-styled Republican politician. He was mayor of Providence for a total of eighteen years from 1864 to 1886, second only to Mayor "Buddy" Cianci in tenure. Cianci has been compared to Doyle in a number of other ways as both brought about major and contentious changes in the City, and both were extremely popular while being severely criticized by the local press. During Doyle's administration, the City more than doubled in population and wealth. He undertook its first and largest water and sewer system construction project. He also held offices in both the city council and the school committee for eighteen years. His sister, Sarah Doyle (BP 110, 272), a well-known educator and advocate for women's education, was one of the founders of Brown's Women's College in 1897.
Johannes Oertel was born in Bavaria, Germany, attending the Polytechnic Institute there. He emigrated to the United States in 1848, first teaching painting in Newark, New Jersey, and engraving bank notes. He later moved to Washington DC, where he painted decorative scenes on the ceiling in the old House of Representatives. In 1858, he moved to Westerly, Rhode Island, where he remained until serving in the Civil War. He mastered a number of genres, but is best remembered for his religious paintings, especially his 1867 "Rock of Ages," reproduced and widely distributed as a chromolithograph. In 1871, Oertel was ordained as an Episcopal minister. He spent the rest of his life moving about the United States, combining preaching, painting, and teaching. His portrait of Doyle, which was probably executed while he was living in Rhode Island, was given to Brown in 1891 by Doyle's son, Arthur Thomas Doyle.