Restored portraits of the first Jews in Providence to be unveiled on May 7

PROVIDENCE – In March of 2021, Jaime Walden, office manager for the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association, received a call from an estate lawyer in California regarding the bequest of a client who had recently passed away. The assets, two oil paintings and a snuff box, were delivered in a rather large box a few weeks later. The oil paintings were of Solomon and Miriam Pareira, the first recorded Jews to live in Providence, and the snuff box belonged to Solomon.

The following fall, the RIJHA began reaching out to art conservators in Rhode Island and Massachusetts about cleaning and restoring the portraits. After obtaining assessments from two conservators, the association chose Gianfranco Pocobene and his assistant, Corrine Long, for the job.

Pocobene was highly recommended by staff at the Rhode Island Historical Society and the Rhode Island School of Design. In addition to having his own art conservation firm, in Malden, Massachusetts, he is also the head art conservator at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, in Boston.

With his full schedule, Pocobene wasn’t able to take on the portraits right away, so he instructed the RIJHA on how to store them and said he would be back for the paintings in the spring of 2022. In the meantime, RIJHA staff applied for grants to cover the cost of restoring the paintings. Ultimately, the Gertrude N. and Seebert J. Goldowsky Foundation paid for the restoration, for which the association is deeply grateful.

Once Pocobene retrieved the portraits, he and Long updated the RIJHA with photos showing the stages of the restoration. It was truly amazing to see the paintings go from muted colors, lots of chipped paint and a few tears to vibrant, detailed, museum-quality portraits of these two Jewish pioneers.

Solomon and Miriam Pareira, and their two oldest children, Abraham and Isaac, arrived in New York City from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on the Flavius in October 1842. Solomon was a tailor and had a successful business in Amsterdam before coming to the U.S.

The Pareiras then made their way to Providence, where they lived at 66 Clemence St. In time, Solomon owned tailoring and clothing businesses, a saloon and an eatery in the city.

But the Pareiras were not only important in Rhode Island’s Jewish history as the first Jews to settle in Providence; Solomon also held the first minyan, in his home, for Congregation Sons of Israel and David, now known as Temple Beth-El.

With such a strong connection to Beth-El, the RIJHA felt that the restored portraits should be presented to the community at the temple and then proudly hung in Beth-El’s gallery.

The RIJHA will co-host a free community event on Sunday, May 7, at Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave., Providence, to unveil and discuss the portraits. Please join us, from 2 to 4 p.m., for this look into our state’s Jewish history. Register for the event at rijha.org/events.

KATE-LYNNE LAROCHE is the executive director of the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association.