American Painting and Sculpture

BENJAMIN WEST
(American, 1738-1820)

Elisha Raising the Shunammite’s Son, 1765
Oil on canvas
Museum purchase from the Dr. George Angus Robertson Bequest 1964.7

Benjamin West was born in rural Pennsylvania, studied art in Italy, and eventually settled in London, where he became president of the Royal Academy. He was the first American painter to achieve an international reputation. He owed his early success largely to pictures such as this one, which in its restrained, almost severe style is one of the earliest representations of Neoclassical painting in Europe.

The subject matter is an obscure biblical story whose inspirational theme was aimed at a highly educated audience. Here the prophet Elisha is shown with his servant in the house of a wealthy woman whose only son has just died. In what may be the first recorded case of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, Elisha, praying to the Lord, “went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth…and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.”
This painting is an illustration of faith in God and the power of prayer. Our attention is drawn to the statuesque figures, arranged in a shallow stage-like space, who tell the story with clearly defined gestures and expressions.