The drawing is a study for a well-documented but now lost painting commissioned anonymously by joseph wilcocks in 1772 to hang in rochester cathedral. The 223. 5 x 142 cm painting was transferred to st. Mary's in chatham, and in the period after 1907 it was probably sold and removed, after which it appeared at the vose gallery in boston. In 1924 it was bought by the erich gallery in new york and has not been seen since. The history of the painting is known through a letter with instructions from wilcocks to west as well as a study in oil on paper at the v & a in london. The wilcocks ask west to add the two angel wings, which west has complied with in the kks drawing, but as they are missing from the version at the v & a, this must be considered earlier. In addition, the angels in the earlier sketch are both male, while the one on the left in the museum's drawing, like the finished painting, is female. This helps to emphasize the drawing's position as a later stage in the process. The painting is dated 1774 and was exhibited at the royal academy in london the same year. The original commission in 1772 makes the painting west's earliest major religious commission, before george iii seriously put him to work on paintings for windsor castle. Object Type: drawing. Dimensions: height: 213 mm (8.38 in); width: 167 mm (6.57 in). Medium: black chalk, oil on brown paper. Collection: Statens Museum for Kunst. Benjamin West, Studie til maleri forestillende englene, der viser sig for hyrderne, , KKSgb7495, Statens Museum for Kunst
Loading...
