ROM curatorial staff artifacts

TORONTO, ON - MARCH 18: Heidi Sobol - This portrait of Julia Lambert, was painted by Thomas Sully, early in his career. Lambert was the sister-in-law of George Crookshank, an Upper Canada businessman. When Julia's sister died, she came to Canada from the US to care for her young niece and nephew. This painting is an evocative portrait of a young woman in the mid-nineteenth century, framed in an exquisite water-gilt period frame. The quiet grace of the sitter invites me to think about what kind of life she must have lived, far from her home and caring for young children. The mastery of Sully's skill is front and centre; he would later go on to paint portraits of Thomas Jefferson and Queen Victoria. This painting typifies the breadth of work in the Sigmund Samuel Gallery of Canada. Lucas Oleniuk/Toronto Star (Lucas Oleniuk/Toronto Star via Getty Images)