
Artwork Details
- Title
- Saul and the Witch of Endor
- Artist
- Date
- 1828
- Location
- Dimensions
- 36 x 48 in. (91.3 x 122.0 cm)
- Markings
- lower right in black oil: Painted by W. S. Mount. / 1828 lower right in white oil: PAINTED BY WILLIAM S. MOUNT./1828. (written on top of signature in black oil) stretcher in black oil: #95
- Credit Line
- Gift of International Business Machines Corporation
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- oil on canvas
- Keywords
- Group
- Figure group — male
- Landscape — time — night
- State of being — phenomenon — vision
- State of being — emotion — fear
- Religion — Old Testament — Saul
- Religion — Old Testament — Witch of Endor
- Object Number
- 1966.48.1
Artwork Description
William Sidney Mount created only a few paintings based on historical and literary scenes. This piece illustrates a passage from the Old Testament, in which Saul sought help from an oracle before going to war with the Philistines. The witch summoned the spirit of the prophet Samuel so that Saul could ask him for advice. In this painting, Saul and his men cower in horror as the ghost comes forward to speak to them (1 Samuel 28). This episode was familiar to nineteenth-century audiences who had been raised on scripture.