About the Artist

Violet Oakley (1874-1961) was perhaps the greatest woman muralist the United States has produced. She grew up in Bergen Heights, NJ and began studying art at age 18. She studied art in Philadelphia and England. She came from a family of artists. Both her grandfathers were members of The National Academy of Design.

From the mid 1890's until 1902, Ms. Oakley had a studio at 1523 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. For the next four years, she lived in Villanova, PA. From 1906 until her death in 1961, Ms. Oakley lived and worked at 627 St. George's Road in Mt. Airy, Philadelphia.

Religion and Politics

Ms. Oakley was an Episcopalian who converted to Christian Science. She later became immersed in William Penn's Quaker ideas of universal brotherhood, freedom of religion, and a world court of arbitration to supplant wars. Her political activity focused on international issues of world peace and disarmament. Ms Oakley was a pacifist and a feminist of that generation of feminists that won the vote for women.

Artistic Achievements

Ms. Oakley began as an illustrator of books and magazines. She developed other talents: stained glass; designs for posters; work in charcoal and pastels; pencil, ink and watercolor on paper; oil on canvas.

In 1902, Ms. Oakley was commissioned to paint a series of murals for the governor's reception room in the new Pennsylvania State Capitol Building in Harrisburg. She chose as her theme: "William Penn's Founding of the Colony of Pennsylvania."

Ms. Oakley subsequently became noted for her murals/wall paintings: oils on canvas produced in her studio and later mounted on the walls of public buildings and private homes. Another mural of note was her "Apocalypse Triptych" for the Vassar College Alumni House in 1924.

During World War II, Ms. Oakley created beautiful portable altar pieces for the Armed Forces. It was these beautiful altar pieces that caught the attention of Mrs. W. Beatty Jennings, widow of the former pastor of The First Presbyterian Church in Germantown.

About the Jennings Room Murals

Mrs. Jennings approached Ms Oakley about painting an Annunciation scene in what was then used as the reception room for the church's Pastoral Aid Society (the women's organization of the church). Ms. Oakley, instead, suggested a series of murals, and Mrs. Jennings convinced church members to sponsor 10 murals as memorials. Ms Oakley's commission was undertaken in the summer of 1945 (she was then over 70 years old) and the murals were completed in the spring of 1949.

The Ten Murals (panels) Panel I - The Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38) - Located on the West wall of the room (wall with the fireplace).

Panels II and III - Trees naming the great women of the Old Testament. These panels flank Panel I.

Panel IV - The Coming of the Wise Men from the East (Matthew 2:1-12)

(Panels IV, V, VI and VII are on the South wall of the room, opposite the windows, and proceed in order from left to right.)

Panel V - Jesus Speaking with the Woman of Samaria at Jacob's Well (John 4:5-24)

Panel VI - Jesus in the House of Mary and Martha of Bethany (John 12:1-9)

Panel VII - The Raising of Dorcas by St. Peter (Acts 9:36-42)

Panels VIII and X - Trees naming the great women of the New Testament. These panels flank panel IX on the East wall of the room.

Panel IX - This is actually a long triple panel. On the left Eve is beguiled by the Serpent into eating the Forbidden fruit (Genesis 3). In the center, the archangel Jophiel,"the beauty of God" who is not mentioned by name in the scriptures, guards the way to the Tree of Life. On the right, Eve, now redeemed, sits at the Virgin Mary's feet. This scene comes not from Scripture but from Dante's Paradise, canto 32:4, and caused some controversy among the mural's sponsors.

Influences Upon Oakley and Her Intent

Like pre-Raphaelite paintings, Oakley's figures and faces are given bold outlines. All figures, male and female alike, are given graceful physiques and long tapering hands. Pre-Raphaelite art epitomized innocence, purity and spirituality.

Oakley learned from illustrator Howard Pyle (1853-1911) who said, "The artist is to visualize the most exciting moment of an historical or literary narrative and to render that as a dramatic scene in the life of the individual portrayed by the artist."

Oakley developed female figures, not as passive vehicles for ideas, but rather as active agents for unification and change. Violet Oakley called the women she portrayed on the walls of this room "the great forerunners and followers of Christ." She wanted her murals to exert a "spiritual force" that would "flow forth constantly from the walls."

Oakley supported Dante's view that all works of art have anagogical meaning. She wanted the women she portrayed as part of salvation history to partake of, and reflect for the viewer, "the supernal things of the eternal glory." She wanted the viewer to experience the heavenly things of God's glory as transmitted through the women of the Bible.

Researched and written by the Reverend John Lamb

Edited by Don Carlin 1996