Jacob More

The Deluge

1787

Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported)

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Not on display

Artist: Jacob More c.1740–1793
Medium: Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions: Support: 1504 x 2046 x 37 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Purchased with assistance from Tate Patrons and Tate Members 2008
Reference: T12758

Display caption

More’s paintings were admired for their celebration of the dramatic beauty and power of nature. Here he creates a mysterious, tonal image of watery grey-green on the popular artistic theme of the deluge. A deluge legend, where a great flood is sent as divine retribution to destroy a civilisation, is common to many faiths and cultures. The best known in Britain is the biblical account in the Book of Genesis, where God sends a flood to kill all life, but instructs Noah to build a large vessel, the Ark, to save his family and a representation of the world’s creatures.

Gallery label, March 2010

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nature(46,521)
- animals: mammals(5,149)
  - horse(1,704)
- landscape(26,713)
  - cliff(868)
  - rocky(2,950)
- water: inland(11,674)
  - river(8,350)
- weather(3,962)
  - flood(93)
  - storm(786)
people(35,849)
- actions: postures and motions(9,285)
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- actions: expressive(2,681)
  - comforting(77)
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  - pleading(34)
- diseases and conditions(1,517)
  - drowned(58)
religion and belief(8,393)
- universal religious imagery(878)
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