
Original Tabernacle, for Communion Vessels1936
Dayton Brown painted this in 1936, aged 41. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. More about this work
About this work
The image shows a painted artwork within an ornate frame. The artwork features a figure standing with one hand raised. The figure has long hair and a beard, and wears flowing blue and white garments. The background shows an earthy surface and a sky. The frame is gold and elaborately designed. The scene is set against a blank, light-colored background.
Description from the National Gallery of Art.
Dayton Brown painted this in 1936, aged 41. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
How it was made
- Watercolour
- Pigment in gum arabic, thinned with water and laid in transparent washes. Nothing white is painted: the light is the paper showing through.
- Graphite
- Pencil. Graphite has been used for drawing since the 1500s; in 1795 Nicolas-Jacques Conté mixed it with clay, so its hardness could be graded.
- Pen and ink
- Drawn with a quill or reed pen, often with wash added by brush to model light and shadow.
Dayton Brown
American, c. 1895–1971
American folk and design
The everyday art of early America, recorded in watercolour by the Index of American Design.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The National Gallery of Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1943.8.6638
- Credit
- Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
- Type
- Drawing
- Department
- Index of American Design
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site









