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Analysis of Benjamin West's Death on a Pale Horse
Citation preview
Jeniffer Harrison American Art – Fall 2008
Benjamin West – “Death on the Pale Horse”
1
Jeniffer Harrison American Art – Fall 2008
Benjamin West
Death on the Pale Horse 1817
Jeniffer Harrison American Art – Fall 2008
Benjamin West – “Death on the Pale Horse”
2
This paper will analyze Benjamin West’s Death on the Pale Horse
(The Opening of the First Five Seals) (1817) (Fig. 1) in the Pennsylvania
Academy of Fine Arts and its relationship to the Apocalypse. In 1756
West moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he learned painting
from a lay preacher, which may have had an impact on his subject
choices. He later embarked to study art in Europe and was the first
American born artist to move past the limitations of the Colonial portrait
tradition. He expanded his subject matter when taking part in the Neo-
Classical and Romantic Idealism movements. West was also one of the
first artists to realize the commercial and the publicity value of
mechanical reproduction of his works, which were sold by the tens of
thousands in Europe and America. In 1817, West introduced a new
direction in his grand scale painting Death on the Pale Horse. He drew on
contemporary conceptions of the sublime and combined it with both
Christian imagery of the Apocalypse and pagan myth in a frenzy of
movement.
Death on the Pale Horse, The Opening of the First Five Seals by
Benjamin West is oil on canvas painting, measuring 23 3/8 x 50 5/8
inches is signed in the lower right hand corner “Benj. West, October 10,
1817.”i.The subject for this painting is found in the bible in the book of
Jeniffer Harrison American Art – Fall 2008
Benjamin West – “Death on the Pale Horse”
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Revelations 6: 8: “And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name
that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was
given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and
with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”ii Riding
in the center of the canvas is Death on the pale horse while War, Famine,
and Pestilence ride on a mission of destroying humanity along with him.
The painting, a panoramic view of a battle scene, exhibits some of West’s
finest imagery and clearly and convincingly depicts all the emotion of a
horrifying scene. On the left, scenes of killing by sword, famine, wild
beasts, and pestilence erupt in a fury of violence. On the right side of the
canvas, the white, red, and black horses unleashed in the first three
seals burst out of the thunderous central scene. On the white horse to
the right, Christ is wearing a golden crown and carrying a bow while
gazing into the heavens at the figures robed in white. The portrayal of
Christ in the painting instills a little optimism of salvation in the midst of
the Apocalypse. In the upper left hand corner where a slight amount of
light penetrates the darkened sky, an eagle is seen attacking a heron.iii
The various demons, and furies of Hell and wild beasts contribute to the
terribilita imagery in the painting. The forms in the painting are executed
in a full manner and reinforce the drama of the scene the artist intended.
The rich, dark color palette chosen and chiaroscuro utilized by West
further intensifies the somber mood of the painting. The painterly
surfaces and tumultuous passages built around the horrifying scheme of
Jeniffer Harrison American Art – Fall 2008
Benjamin West – “Death on the Pale Horse”
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the Apocalypse and Death moved toward the Romantic impulse in art
and away from the Neoclassical. West’s biblical paintings drew on
contemporary conceptions of the sublime. He combined Christian images
of the Apocalypse and pagan myths in an exited state of movement,
which would foretell the European Romantic movement in art.iv
West had at an earlier time in his life and career worked on
variations of Death on the Pale Horse in smaller paintings and sketches.
There are several known preliminary works attributed to this same
theme leading up to the large painting completed in 1817. West’s
preliminary small oil on canvas of Death on the Pale Horse from 1796 (fig.
2) appears to have been a significant beginning to the subject matter of
the Apocalypse in England. There is little doubt that West’s sketches
and paintings leading up to the painting of 1817 had an impact on the
subject matter chosen by other American and European artists.v Many of
the first sketches were originally initiated in concept for the Revelation
Disposition for the private Chapel of Revealed Religion located in Windsor
Castle for King George III.vi It was not until after 1800 that West’s
depiction of the Revelation’s story would be treated as separate from the
chapel’s scheme.
While West was training abroad in Europe he soon became
recognized for his artistic influence on European and American art.
Jeniffer Harrison American Art – Fall 2008
Benjamin West – “Death on the Pale Horse”
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Even though West’s realistic history paintings had brought him
international acclaim, he was additionally known for his biblical
depictions. From the 1780’s until West’s death in 1820, he was
intimately involved in religious narratives. Many works during this time
frame were as a result of a commission for a royal chapel and his
subjects were drawn from a literary source he was intimately familiar
with, the Bible.vii Later commissions for William Beckford’s Fonthill
Abbey and its ‘Revelation Chamber’ contributed further to West’s
development of the Revelation themes. In particular the preliminary
work on the Death on the Pale Horse in 1796, which would lead to the
final rendering of the painting in 1817.viii
Benjamin West’s subject matter of the Apocalypse increased and
decreased repeatedly over the last thirty years of his life and career.
Additionally, some of the content and figures in the various preliminary
sketches and paintings of the Death on the Pale Horse theme were
changed as well. There is speculation that West was personally effected
by the wars that plagued America and Europe during this time and his
allegiances and emotions were subconsciously embedded in these works,
as part of these thirty years, West’s principle patron was King George III
of England. West had put aside the sketches for this scene in 1783
when the “Treaty of Versailles” was signed, ending the American
Revolution. West would later begin reworking the composition in 1796,
Jeniffer Harrison American Art – Fall 2008
Benjamin West – “Death on the Pale Horse”
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the same year England was again at war with the French. West
additionally made known his intention to begin work on the final oil on
canvas five months after the “Battle of Waterloo”. During each rendering
West included different battle scenes and symbols; however for the last
two renderings of this theme he was careful to avoid symbols that could
be construed as pro-English or anti-French.ix
Benjamin West’s long career both in the Americas and in Europe
we celebrated due to his inventiveness, kindness, and talent. As a
person, West was generous with his home, his studio, and toward his
students. West’s invention of the “current” historical paintings laid the
groundwork for the American Style separate from Antiquity. Later in his
life all the sketches, preliminary paintings, and final rendering of Death
on the Pale Horse, The Opening of the First Five Seals also had an
enormous impact on the art world in Europe and America, but more
importantly it was a work, which evolved with the painter and the times
he lived in, portraying his inner emotions. It is safe to say that without
the works of Benjamin West it may have been a long time before the art
world moved past portraying political figures in the guise of the Ancients
and an even longer time before such a moving, yet terrifying painting as
Death on the Pale Horse, The Opening of The First Five Seals would be
seen in the Americas.
Jeniffer Harrison American Art – Fall 2008
Benjamin West – “Death on the Pale Horse”
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Bibliography
Anbinder, Paul, ed. American Paintings and Sculpture to 1945 In the Carnegie Museum of Art exh. Cat. (New York: Hudson Hill Press in association with The Carnegie Museum of Art, 1992).
Carl, Goldstien. "Towards a Definition of Academic Art.” The Art Bulletin, Vol. 57, No. 1 (1975): 102-109, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3049342. (accessed October 12, 2008).
"Death on the Pale Horse.” Bulletin of the Pennsylvania Museum Vol. 26, No. 138, (1931): 17-22, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3794416. (accessed October 12, 2008).
Detroit Institute of Arts, 2004,http://www.dia.org/the_collection/overview/viewobject.asp?objectid=64796, (accessed November 13, 2008).
Farmer, Meservey Anne. "The Role of Art in American Life: Critics' Views on Native Art and Literature, 1830-1865.” American Art Journal, Vol. 10. No. 1 (1978): 73-89, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1594110. (accessed September 10, 2008).
"Grove Art Online." 2008. http://www.oxfordartonline.com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/art/T091222?print=true (accessed 10/12/09).
Meyer, Jerry D. “Benjamin West’s Chapel of Revealed Religion: A Study
In Eighteenth-Century Protestant Religious Art.” The Art Bulletin 57, no. 2, (Jun. 1975): 247-265,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3049373 (accessed October 10, 2008).
Stanley, Allen. “West’s Death on the Pale Horse.” Bulletin of the Detroit
Institute of Arts 50, no. 3, (1980): 137-149.
Jeniffer Harrison American Art – Fall 2008
Benjamin West – “Death on the Pale Horse”
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List of Illustrations
Fig. 1: Benjamin West, Death on the Pale Horse, The Opening of the First Five Seals, 1817 CE, 23 3/8 x 50 5/8 inches, Oil on Canvas, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Museum and School.x Fig. 2: Benjamin West, Death on the Pale Horse, The Opening of the Four Seals, 1796 CE, 23 ½ x 50 ½ inches, Oil on Canvas, DetroitInstitute of Arts.xi
Jeniffer Harrison American Art – Fall 2008
Benjamin West – “Death on the Pale Horse”
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Figure 1. Benjamin West, American, 1738-1820, Death on the Pale Horse, The Opening of the Five Seals, 1817 CE; oil on canvas, 23 3/8 x 50 5/8 inches. Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.xii
Figure 2. Benjamin West, American, 1738-1820, Death on the Pale Horse, The Opening of the Four Seals, 1796 CE; oil on canvas, 23 3/8 x 50 5/8 inches. Detroit Institute of Arts.xiii
Jeniffer Harrison American Art – Fall 2008
Benjamin West – “Death on the Pale Horse”
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End Notes
i . . "Death on the Pale Horse.” Bulletin of the Pennsylvania Museum 26, No. 138, (1931): 17. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3794416. (accessed 12 October 2008: 17. ii Ibid, 17. iii Allen Stanley, “West’s Death on the Pale Horse.” Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 50, no. 3, (1980): 139.
iv Jerry D. Meyer, “Benjamin West’s Chapel of Revealed Religion: A Study in Eighteenth-Century Protestant Religious Art,” Art Bulletin 57(June 1975): 247-248, 257. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3049373 (accessed10 October 2008). v Ibid, 139. vi Ibid, 17. vii Ibid, 247-248. viii Stanley, “West’s Death on the Pale Horse”, 142-143. ix Ibid, 145-148. x Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Museum and School, http://www.pafa.org/Museum/The-Collection/View-All-Works/Large-image/91/coltypeld_3/pageIndex_17/collid_6744/, 2 November 2008. xi Detroit Institute of Arts, 2004, http://www.dia.org/the_collection/overview/viewobject.asp?objectid=64796, 13 November 2008. xii Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2 November 2008. xiii Detroit Institute of Arts, 13 November 2008.