The Angel Israfel

Media - 1983.46.9 - SAAM-1983.46.9_1 - 7082
Copied Claude Buck, The Angel Israfel, 1919, oil on paperboard, 14 1817 in. (36.043.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Claude Buck, 1983.46.9

Artwork Details

Title
The Angel Israfel
Artist
Date
1919
Dimensions
14 1817 in. (36.043.3 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Claude Buck
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on paperboard
Classifications
Keywords
  • Landscape — time — sunset
  • Religion — angel
Object Number
1983.46.9

Artwork Description

This painting shows Israfel, one of the four archangels in Islam. He is usually portrayed in Oriental dress holding a trumpet, which followers believe he will sound on the Day of Resurrection. Here, Claude Buck depicted Israfel as an apparently female angel in a white gown. The painting may have been inspired by the poem "Israfel," by Edgar Allan Poe. Buck was very interested in Poe and created many paintings based on him and his work. The vision of heaven described in the poem with its "giddy stars" and moon that "blushes with love" may have inspired Buck's swirling sky and glowing red moon.

This artwork was recommended by citizen curators as part of our Fill the Gap project on Flickr. They said:

"It shares the same sense of mystery and spiritualism as several other paintings."

"Lovely, different, so vivid"

"It is supernatural and dynamic—it would hold its own due to the composition and expressive nature of the work."