Inside a storage closet at the former Bertha’s Mussels restaurant, the discovery of a painting has filled a long-standing gap in the story of Baltimore’s Davidge Hall, home to the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
The latest leg of the painting’s journey began when Meg Fielding received a text message from her friend Carolyn Brownley. Brownley was helping clear out the former Fells Point eatery when she found an 1844 contemporary painting of Dr. John Beale Davidge, the founder of the UMD School of Medicine.
“This painting was found among the many relics as we were cleaning out Berthas in preparation for the foreclosure auction. Seems like something that should have a home in the medical archives somewhere. He was quite a guy! founder of the University of Maryland School of Medicine after whom Davidge Hall is named,” the May 29 message from Brownley read.
Fielding is still in disbelief that she came across the painting. She said 99.9% of people wouldn’t think twice.
“It’s just because I’m the head of the history of medicine [at the Maryland State Medical Society] that I know who he is,” said Fielding, who also writes the Hot House column for Baltimore Fishbowl.
She immediately emailed Larry Pitrof, her good friend and executive director of the Medical Alumni Association of the University of Maryland (MAA).
“I knew she knew what she had, but I was still in disbelief,” Pitrof said. “I had a look at him, and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness gracious, Meg! How did you come upon this thing?’”
The painting is “probably” the oldest surviving portrait of the school’s first dean, according to Pitrof.
Two days after the text message, Fielding had her hands on the portrait. She purchased it from Tony Norris, the former owner of Bertha’s Mussels. The beloved Fells Point restaurant, whose popular green and white “Eat Bertha’s Mussels” bumper stickers can still be seen adorning the rears of cars around Baltimore, closed in 2022. The portrait was discovered in a sale of items that were hanging on the walls at Bertha’s, which is only two miles from Davidge Hall.
Norris told Baltimore Fishbowl the portrait hung on the wall in the restaurant’s dining room before it was moved upstairs to the music studio. He said he can’t remember where he bought it, but knew exactly who the subject was since the day he purchased it.
“I might have bought it at a flea market, that kind of thing. I mean, I didn’t pay a lot of money for it,” Norris said. “I had it on the wall, and I was always waiting for somebody to make some comments, tell me if they were involved in that building or anything, but I never did.”
The restaurant was sold to its lender in a foreclosure sale on May 29, the same day as the text message. The proceeds from the sale went to Norris’ wife’s mandolin music program for children.
Fielding then decided to donate the painting to Pitrof and the MAA. It will now have a permanent home at Davidge Hall, the building named after the Annapolis-born surgeon.
“It’s like our Mona Lisa,” she said. “There’s no picture of the guy. This picture from 1844 is as contemporary as you’re ever going to get to a life picture of John Davidge.”
@baltfishbowl Inside a storage closet at the former Bertha’s Mussels restaurant, the discovery of a painting has filled a long-standing gap in the story of Baltimore’s Davidge Hall, home to the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Read more at baltimorefishbowl.com Video and reporting by Eddy Calkins/Baltimore Fishbowl * * * #universityofmaryland #umd #universityofmarylandschoolofmedicine #davidge #davidgehall #drdavidge #johnbealedavidge #johndavidge #painting #portrait #medicine #medical #school #schoolofmedicine #medicalschool #berthas #berthasmussels #baltimore #baltimoremd #baltimoremaryland #Maryland #baltimorecity #fellspoint #fellspointbaltimore #fellspointmd #marylandstatemedicalsociety #medchi #health #Healthcare #restaurant #baltimorefishbowl #baltimorenews #localnews #news #art ♬ original sound – baltfishbowl
At first, Davidge Hall occupied an old library across the street from the current building. When that library building was demolished, the MAA lobbied the Maryland Board of Regents to transfer the name to its current location. In 1958, the name was saved, and 522 W. Lombard St. officially became Davidge Hall.
It still holds University of Maryland School of Medicine lectures and houses the MAA. It is the oldest building that still teaches medicine in the Northern Hemisphere. The building was named a National Historic Landmark in 1997.
“I like that building a lot because I’m interested in architecture and old houses,” Norris said. “So every time I go by that building, I point it out to somebody, and I thought it was nice that I had a portrait of the guy that the building was named after.”
Davidge Hall is expected to undergo renovations from October 2025 to December 2026. Once the repairs are completed, the portrait will hang next to a bust of Davidge at the front door.
“Our belief is that when you walk through those two very large double doors [of Davidge Hall], the first thing that you should see should be the portrait of John Davidge,” Pitrof said.
In the 1990s, a black and white portrait of Davidge was stolen from Davidge Hall. The building was open to visitors all day, and someone walked out with it, according to Pitrof. About a decade ago, the MAA hired an Eastern Shore artist to replicate the stolen painting. He said the painting was a “wonderful” rendering, but it doesn’t compare to the one found this year.
“That’s as original as you’re going to find of our founder, and we’re so tickled by the find,” he said.
The origin of the portrait remains a mystery. No one has been able to figure out who painted the portrait. The back of the canvas reads: “From the original: Copied by AL Ritzka, New York, 1844.”
The only relevant artist Baltimore Fishbowl could find is Arthur Ludwig Ritzka, a New York artist who was known for his pastel portraits. Ritzka, however, was born more than 20 years after the painting was dated.
Dr. John Davidge died in 1829 with complications from a facial tumor. He was instrumental in founding the UMD College of Medicine in 1807. As the first dean, Davidge taught anatomy courses and was an advocate for early medicine in Maryland, said Pitrof.
“Here was this bold physician who knew that if we brought together the best medical minds, we’d solve some of these mysteries,” he said. “He was a real mover and shaker back then. He was a very progressive thinker and a problem solver.”
And now, thanks to a text message, a one-of-a-kind portrait will honor his legacy and commitment to teaching future medical professionals.
“It’s a Baltimore story,” Fielding said. “If one little thing had slipped, like if [Brownley] hadn’t known I’d worked here and that I know medicine, it might have gone into a dumpster and be lost forever.”
great work, Eddy. Keep writing. — rafael, who enjoyed many a paella at Bertha’s.