Study for 'A mighty Angel standeth upon the Land and upon the Sea' (illustrated); Study of an eagle on a perch (recto); Study of a portrait in a wreathed frame (verso); and Study of a shell

Details

Benjamin West, P.R.A. (1738-1820)
Study for 'A mighty Angel standeth upon the Land and upon the Sea' (illustrated); Study of an eagle on a perch (recto); Study of a portrait in a wreathed frame (verso); and Study of a shell
one indistinctly inscribed (upper right)
black and white chalk on grey-blue paper, (1) on two joined sheets, (3) unframed
14½ x 9 in. (36.8 x 22.8 cm.) (3)

Provenance

The artist's family, and by descent to
Mrs P. Howard; Sotheby's, London, 22 March 1979, parts of lots 9 and 11, where purchased by the present owner.

Literature

(1) H. von Erffa and A. Staley, The Paintings of Benjamin West, New Haven and London, 1986, no. 404, n. 3.

Exhibited

(1) Texas, San Antonio Museum of Art, Revealed Religion: Benjamin West's Commissions for Windsor Castle and Fonthill Abbey, 18 September - 13 November 1983, no. 36

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium

Lot Essay

This study of the Angel of the Sun for A Mighty Angel Standeth upon the Land and upon the Sea has been dated to circa 1797-8, and is a preparatory sketch for one of the paintings on an apocalyptic theme commissioned by William Beckford for the decoration of the Revelation Chamber at Fonthill Abbey. The location of the finished painting was unknown in 1986 (see von Erffa & Staley, loc. cit.). For futher studies for another work from this series of paintings, The Woman clothed with the Sun, see lots 34 and 35.

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