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Santa's Cause

Today is the feast day of St. Nicholas, a Bishop of Myra, Turkey, in the early part of the fourth century.

Known for his many acts of charity and love, St. Nicholas is especially popular in the Greek and Russian Orthodox churches. Like many Christians, the Dutch venerated Saint Nicholas and brought their notions of "Sinter Klaus" to North America when they settled New York

Robert Weir's popular homage to St. Nicholas is filled with references to the Knickerbockers, a cultural group of writers, artists, and patrons who linked themselves with New York's colonial Dutch heritage. Weir was an active member of the group in the early to mid-nineteenth century, when the unchecked growth of New York City threatened to obliterate all traces of its Dutch history. The Delft tiles around the fireplace, the coat of arms with windmill blades above the mantle, and the clay pipes all reinforce Knickerbocker values and remind us that the pleasures of life are fleeting.

Source: Amy Pastan. Young America: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (New York and Washington, D.C.: Watson-Guptill Publications, in cooperation with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2000).

Pictured: Robert Walter Weir, 1803–1889, St. Nicholas, about 1837, oil on wood, 29 3/4 x 24 1/2 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase.