In Tate Britain
Walk Through British Art: 1840
Free entry- Artist
- Francis Danby 1793–1861
- Medium
- Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions
- Support: 707 x 1099 mm
frame: 845 x 1220 x 80 mm - Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Purchased 1953
- Reference
- N06134
Display caption
This painting is a smaller version of the large-scale painting Danby exhibited in 1840. The subject is from the Old Testament book of Genesis. God sends a flood to punish mankind’s wickedness but allows Noah and his family to be saved. Noah’s ark is in the background, illuminated by a shaft of moonlight. A stormy sea rages round a rocky peak and massive tree branches, to which humans and animals are clinging desperately. A blood-red sun can be seen setting to the left. In the lower right hand corner, an angel weeps over the death of a child.
Gallery label, November 2016
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c.1822
Sir Martin Archer Shee Thomas Morton Esq.
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Joseph Mallord William Turner The Deluge
?exhibited 1805
Formerly attributed to John Martin The Fallen Angels Entering Pandemonium, from ‘Paradise Lost’, Book 1
?exhibited 1841