# Noah: The Eve of the Deluge

**John Linnell** (English, 1792–1882)  
1848  
oil on canvas  
Framed: 168.5 x 242.5 x 9.5 cm (66 5/16 x 95 1/2 x 3 3/4 in.); Unframed: 146 x 221 cm (57 1/2 x 87 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1972.119. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1972.119).

## About this work

This painting powerfully illustrates changes in taste over time. Before it was even completed, the painting was purchased for the considerable sum of £1,000 by a newly wealthy industrialist who admired John Linnell’s modern approach to religious subjects. In 1913, however, the painting was sold at auction for only £130. Victorian painting had fallen out of favor among collectors who did not appreciate Linnell’s hotly colored landscapes that combined biblical stories and poetry (in this case Milton’s Paradise Lost ) with close study of the English landscape. Linnell was also known for financially supporting the destitute and elderly William Blake, whose mesmerizing painting of Saint Matthew is in the museum's collection.

_Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art._

John Linnell painted this in 1848, aged 56. It is now at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [John Linnell](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/john-linnell)

English, 1792–1882

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: England, 19th century
- The artist was 56
- Real size: about 57 × 87 in (146 × 221 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 18 × 24 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 19th century
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/679.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/679/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/noah-the-eve-of-the-deluge-cma-146416).