Noah Sacrificing after the Deluge

Alerted by God of a flood sent to destroy evildoers, Noah built an ark in which his family—and pairs of all existing animals—rode out 40 days and nights of rain. After landing on Mount Ararat, Noah gave thanks for his cargo’s survival: “And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.” (Genesis 8:20) Instead of a finished painting, this monumental work is a preparatory sketch, witnessed by the strong contour lines of the objects that indicate their placement and the fainter suggestions of the colors that will be built up in the finished work.

Benjamin West was the first American artist to achieve success abroad. Sent to Italy by Philadelphia businessmen for study, he moved to England in 1763 and rose in the art world, ultimately becoming historical painter to King George III and the second president of the newly formed Royal Academy of Arts.

This scene was part of series of 36 projected paintings intended to hang in the Royal Chapel at England’s Windsor Castle. West worked on this series for years. He completed 18 paintings before George III’s deteriorating mental health—and royal suspicion of West’s political sympathies—killed the project.