Sally Metzler
Chicago, Illinois, United States

Artist Thomas Sully was born in 1783 in the remote English village of Horcastle, but he would gain fame and fortune in the city where the greatest minds came together to sign the United States Constitution: Philadelphia. Lauded as the “Athens” of North America,¹ Philadelphia lured artists seeking commissions from the newly minted upper class and doyennes of society. Sully masterfully crafted elegant portraits in the grand manner after Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, lending a new and fresh American approach, infused with spontaneity and casual, yet elegant ease.

Sully was the first artist to paint George Washington crossing the Delaware (The Passage of the Delaware, 1819),² and later focused his energies on the more lucrative genre of portraiture. Through his adept technique and characterizations, he established himself as a favored painter of the famous, receiving commissions from presidents including Thomas Jefferson. Ambitious, talented, and prolific, he meticulously recorded over 2,000 paintings in his register. In addition to presidents, he amassed commissions from distinguished, though lesser-known Americans, thus playing a seminal role in preserving American history through portraiture.

One such individual painted by Sully is Philadelphian Samuel Coates (1748–1830), whose grandfather arrived in the city in 1684 from Leicestershire, England, established a successful mercantile business, and became a landowner. Samuel continued in this path, though orphaned at an early age and placed under the tutelage of his uncle, who guided his education. Samuel next entered the mercantile profession, prospering in trade ventures in New England, Savannah, and the West Indies. However, the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 effectively shut down commercial opportunities and henceforth Coates dedicated more of his career and life to laudable philanthropic endeavors. When the epidemic struck Philadelphia, he remained in the city to assist citizens and was praised for his efforts “…as earnest, useful and faithful. His duties at this time seem to have directed his attention to matters of kindness and usefulness to his fellow men…”³

His charitable energies manifested in myriad arenas, such as an Overseer of the Philadelphia Quaker Schools, serving for 37 years. In 1800, Coates joined the Board of Directors of the first bank of the United States, known at that time as the Bank of the United States, established in 1791 in Philadelphia.⁴ Coates left sage advice on governing a bank, among his maxims being that a bank cannot bear the shadow of suspicion and must never engage in politics nor elect a politician to its board.⁵

Medicine ironically benefitted from the tragedy of the yellow fever epidemic, as Coates also devoted his charitable energies towards the Pennsylvania Hospital, founded in 1751 as America’s first hospital by Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Thomas Bond.⁶ Coates served for decades as a member, Secretary, and in 1812, the Board of Managers elected him as President; at this time Sully rendered his portrait (Fig. 1), which remains today at the hospital to honor him.

The painting shows a confident and genteel man, shunning aggrandizement yet announcing a sense of accomplishment, sporting an elegant suit of the fashion of the day. The immediacy is striking—Sully captured Coates in the midst of writing, the quill in his hand, and surrounded by various accoutrements of business and books. A satisfying unity exists in the composition, as Sully harmonized the palette, applying primarily neutral beiges and browns and adding a nuance of green by the circles in the carpet. Soothing sunlight bathes the room through the open window on the right. An engraving by Samuel Sartain of Sully’s painting bears the inscribed date of 1813.⁷ At that time, Coates would have been sixty-five, though he indeed exudes a younger physiognomy. Unfortunately, shortly after this portrait and his appointment as president, he resigned his position owing to physical infirmary.

Another work of art enters the stage by way of Samuel Coates, in this instance on account of his patronage. Determined to enliven and adorn the Pennsylvania Hospital with a work of beauty and virtue, he played a key role in garnering a painting by the famous British-American painter Benjamin West. Originally from Pennsylvania though living in London,⁸ West agreed to take on the commission for such a good cause as the Pennsylvania Hospital. In a letter dated 1805 from West to Coates, he praised the hospital for “…the relief it affords to the sick and poor and the benign, and it gives to the afflicted in general…”⁹ He chose the subject Christ Healing the Sick in the Temple, deemed analogous to the veritable institution of the Pennsylvania Hospital. West wrote that he planned to illustrate “…the Redeemer of mankind extending his aid to the afflicted of all ranks and conditions… the passage is from Matthew 21:14-15 …and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them…”

Before it was shipped to America, Christ Healing the Sick in the Temple was exhibited in London, and caused such a sensation that the British Institution offered to buy the work for £3,000, at that time the highest amount ever paid for a modern work of art.¹⁰ Naturally flattered, West accepted, but consented to paint a second version and donate it to the Pennsylvania Hospital. As a salve to any disappointment on not receiving the first version, West announced that he would in fact improve the composition, making additions befitting of the hospital (Fig. 2). Commending the Pennsylvania Hospital’s care to individuals suffering from mental health conditions, he would add a young boy displaying such distress.¹¹

Copious documentation and correspondence exist anent the donation. West wrote that he hoped the Hospital would allow the public to view the painting, and suggested charging an admission fee of 25 cents, to benefit the hospital in its care of the sick. This early fundraising idea of West proved successful, as during the first year, 30,000 people viewed the painting, and over time, the hospital raised $15,000!¹² Additionally, as a touching tribute to both his wife and their native state of Pennsylvania, West mentions that the painting was to be donated in the name of both him and his dear wife, Elizabeth, who hailed from Philadelphia. He wrote:

Mr. West bequeaths the said picture to the Hospital in the joint names of himself and his wife, the late Elizabeth West…as a humble record of their patriotic affection for the State of Pennsylvania, in which they first inhaled the vital air—thus to perpetuate in her native city of Philadelphia the sacred memory of that amiable lady who was his companion in life for fifty years and three months.¹³

Ironically, without the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, there may never have been Christ Healing the Sick by Benjamin West, as this crisis spurred the philanthropy of Samuel Coates and his subsequent involvement with the esteemed Pennsylvania Hospital. After his death, the managers of the hospital established a memorial for Coates, and lauded him with the following:

No individual ever connected with the administration of the hospital bestowed so much personal attention upon its affairs; and a considerable portion of the funds which have enlarged the usefulness of this noble charity, were obtained by his impressive and unwearied petition in its behalf. The benevolence and vigor of his mind were developed on all occasions when suffering humanity made the appeal.¹⁴

End notes

1. D.G. Hart, review of Peter Conn’s book, Thomas Sully’s Philadelphians, in The Wall Street Journal, Saturday/Sunday June 28-29, 2025, p. C11.
2. D.G. Hart, p. C11. The most famous depiction was much later, in 1851, by German-American Emanuel Leutze and can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Sully’s painting is in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
3. See Stephen Noyes Winslow, History from Biographies of Successful Philadelphia Merchants, 1864, p. 193. Coates is covered pp. 192-5.
4. The first United States bank, in part the brainchild of Alexander Hamilton, at the time of founding had a $10 million capitalization: $2 million owned by the government and $8 million by private investors. This was the largest initial public offering (IPO) in the country to date. Read more about the history: https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/first-bank-of-the-us.
5. His other maxims include: 2. A bank is created to fulfill commerce and has nought to exist for any other purpose. 3. The proper check on the imprudent management of a bank consists in a deadline of the market value of its stock. 4. No reasonable man will give money for the stock of a bank at any price at all, if it was used for any other purpose than facilitating commerce [or manufactures]. 5. Or to a place that is not commercial [or a manufacturing centre]. 6. Or if its capital is out of proportion to the business of the place. See Noyes, p. pp. 194-195.
6. For the history of the hospital, see in Hektoen International, Hannah Joyner, “Pennsylvania Hospital,” Winter issue, 2016 [https://hekint.org/2017/02/22/pennsylvania-hospital/]. Coates joined the Board in 1785.
7. Samuel Sartain (Philadelphia 1830–1906 New York). The engraving/mezzotint can be found in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, https://www.pafa.org/museum/collection/item/samuel-coates.
8. West was born in the town of Springfield, Pennsylvania, on October 10, 1738; he died in London in 1820 and was buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral.
9. The letter written in the meticulous cursive of West has been digitized and can be viewed at: https://www.uphs.upenn.edu/paharc/history-month/painting/west-letter-to-hospital.jpg.
10. A medal was struck that inscribed on the verso the names of those who subscribed to fund the purchase: See the inscription with the names at https://www.nga.gov/artworks/176924-benjamin-west-medal-commemorating-those-who-subscribed-purchase-painting-christ-healing-sick-temple. The painting Christ Healing the Sick was later purchased by the National Gallery of London.
11. West described the intended figure as a “…demoniac with his attendant relations.” The figure added to this second version appears on the right: a young, bald boy, with arms flailing in an agitated state. See: https://www.uphs.upenn.edu/paharc/timeline/1801/tline12.html.
12. Michael Zariling: https://breadforbeggars.com/2019/02/christ-healing-the-sick-in-the-temple/.
13. See: https://www.uphs.upenn.edu/paharc/timeline/1801/tline12.html.
14. The Biographical Dictionary of America (1906), edited by Rossiter Johnson, vol. 2, pp. 303-4.