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Studies for 'Isaiah and the Angel' (Saint George's Chapel, Windsor) (recto)

Maker

(artist)
1738-1820

Title

Date of Production

(circa) 1782

Medium

chalk (black and white) washed with a fixative (recto), chalk (black) (verso), on blue laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 32.2 cm
Width: 26.2 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.3880

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

This drawing is a study for an oil painting commissioned from West by George III to decorate a chapel at Windsor Castle, as part of a series on the theme of 'The Dispensation of Grace in Revealed Religion'. The subject is a passage from Isaiah: 'Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips ... Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.' West has substituted an angel for the six-winged seraphim; the burning coal appears as a bright flame at his finger tips. Fire here represents both purification and inspiration, the gift of prophecy which Isaiah received from God.

Notes

A related grisaille sketch of Isaiah and the angel ca. 1782 is in the University of Kansas Museum of Art. A drawing related to that on the verso of Prometheus is in the Swarthmore College collection.

Provenance

Randall Davies (1866-1946); his sale, Sotheby's (London), 11 February 1947, lot 405; purchased there by Colnaghi (London) on behalf of Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952) (£4); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

The Four Elements, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1996

Angelika Kauffmann und ihre Zeitgenossen, Vorarlberger Landesmuseum, Bregenz and Osterreichisches Museum fur angewandte Kunst, Vienna, 23/07/1968-01/02/1969

Literature

Youle, Randolph, 'Benjamin West's Inspiration of the Prophet Isaiah' in 'The Register of The Museum of Art', The University of Kansas, Lawrence 1976 - 53-65; V, 3
p. 59
fig. h on p. 60

Gidley, Mick, A catalogue of American paintings in British public collection, Exeter: University of Exeter, 1974
p. 15

Angelika Kauffmann und ihre Zeitgenossen, Vorarlberger Landesmuseum, Bregenz and Osterreichisches Museum fur angewandte Kunst, Vienna, 1968 / 1969
cat. no. 481
no. 481 ...More

Erffa, Helmut von, 'An Oil Sketch by Benjamin West' in ''The Register of The Museum of Art', The University of Kansas, Lawrence May 1956; I, 7

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 57 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Studies for the figure of the Angel in the picture of / the Prophet Isaiah / Benjn. West //

Inscription: H27 [or 427]

Inscription: [...] West / Studies for Angel //

Inscription: 402

Inscription: G.3

Collector's mark: collector's mark of Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b)

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