Object number1917.1.6
The Valley of the Shadow of Death
Date1867
Artist
George Inness
(American, 1825-1894)
CultureAmerican
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 48 5/8 x 72 7/8 x 1 5/8 in. (123.51 x 185.1 x 4.13 cm)
Credit LineGift of Charles M. Pratt
On View
On viewPeriod19th c
Classification(s)
SignedSigned lower right: G. Inness
InscribedBy artist, lower right: 1867
Vassar Exhibitions
Exhibition HistoryGeorge Inness and the Visionary Landscape, National Academy of Design, New York, NY, September 17 - December 26, 2003; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA, January 24 - April 18, 2004;American Stories 1800 - 1950, Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, January 29 - April 17, 2016
Label TextWith its monumental size and impressive original frame, The Valley of the Shadow of Death dominates our Founders Gallery. The artist, George Inness, who early on trained in the Hudson River School manner, inserted religious imagery into this stormy, high mountain landscape that overwhelms a brilliantly lighted pilgrim. In 1867, Inness noted the isolated of the figure, writing: "Here the Pilgrim is leaving the natural light whose warm rays still faintly illumine the foreground of the scene. Before him all is uncertainty. His life thereafter must be that of faith alone." Inness' interpretation reflects the Christian teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1722), whose writings he followed. An allegory on the rebirth of spiritual faith, the painting harkens back to allegorical paintings by Thomas Cole, the founder of the Hudson River School.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge.
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