Study for the Angel Appearing to the Shepherds
Artist
Thomas Cole
(American, 1801 - 1848)
CultureAmerican
Dateca. 1831
MediumOil on board
DimensionsOverall: 4 1/2 x 6 1/8 in. (11.4 x 15.6 cm)
Overall, Frame: 8 x 9 1/2 x 2 in. (20.3 x 24.1 x 5.1 cm)
Overall, Frame: 8 x 9 1/2 x 2 in. (20.3 x 24.1 x 5.1 cm)
InscribedLate inscription on verso: ;
T Cole;
Study for Angel appearing to Shepherds;
by Thomas Cole artist
Credit LineMuseum purchase with funds from the Armour Foundation
Object number84.32
Not on view
DescriptionThis is an oil on board study for the painting _The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds_ (80.30). It is one of three preparatory sketches for the large painting, and of the three this one is believed to be the oldest. On the left side of the canvas, a palm tree leans as an angel dressed in blue glides toward the shepherds, dressed in blue, red and a tan/gold cloaks. Sheep graze under the palm tree and the foreground may depict a river. A large star is on the right side of the canvas and distant buildings are barely visible.Label TextThomas Cole American, 1801–1848 Studies for The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds, ca. 1831 Oil on board In Florence in 1831, Thomas Cole made sketches for a large painting of the angel Gabriel announcing the birth of Jesus to awe-struck shepherds. A palm tree suggests the exotic Mediterranean location of this biblical event. The artist ultimately moved the palm within the final composition and reduced the number of shepherds from four to three. Arranged in sequence from youngest to oldest, the shepherds embody three stages of life: youth, manhood, and old age. Like The Voyage of Life, this work demonstrates Cole’s talent in depicting both realistic landscape details and imaginative supernatural events. Museum purchase 86.193 Museum purchase with funds from the Armour Foundation 84.32 ProvenanceFlorence Cole Hill Vincent (Cole House and Studio); Mr. and Mrs. George Byron Wolley, Windham, N.Y., 1930s or 1940s; New York Art Market, 1970s; Hirschl & Alder Galleries, Inc., New York; Chrysler Museum of Art Purchase with funds from the Armour Foundation, 1984. Exhibition History"Grand Designs: Preliminary Drawings and Oil Sketches from The Chrysler Museum," Prints and Drawings Gallery, The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., April 2 - June 22, 1994. "Making and Meaning: Selections from the Chrysler Museum of Art Collection," Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, June 1 - August 11, 2013. "Thomas Cole's Voyage of Life," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, October 21, 2014 - January 18, 2015.Published ReferencesEllwood C. Parry III, "Thomas Cole and the Problem of Figure Painting," _American Art Journal_ 4 (March 1972): 77, fig. 16, 81. *Cropped measurement given in article. "Study for The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds," _The Chrysler Museum Bulletin_ 14, no. 8 (August 1984): not paged. Jefferson C. Harrison, _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_ (Norfolk: The Chrysler Museum, 1991), 93, plate 70. ISBN: 0-940744-59-7, 0-940744-62-7 Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 54, no. 25. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6
