Study for "Alexander III, King of Scotland, Saved from a Stag by Colin Fitzgerald"
West’s drawings reveal his genius as a teacher, who not only respected the academic tradition of making drawings before painting but also had a great flair for the expressive media of ink, watercolor, and graphite. He made several sketches for his interpretation of an apocryphal episode from the history of Clan MacKenzie: the clan’s founder, Colin Fitzgerald, is depicted in the act of killing the stag that attacked Alexander III of Scotland in the forests near Kincardine. West’s composition and manner of rendering were surely inspired by the battle and hunt pictures of Peter Paul Rubens, especially “Wolf and Fox Hunt” (10.73), which West had seen at Corsham Court in 1763.
Artwork Details
- Title: Study for "Alexander III, King of Scotland, Saved from a Stag by Colin Fitzgerald"
- Artist: Benjamin West (American, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 1738–1820 London)
- Date: 1784
- Culture: American
- Medium: Pen and brown ink, brown ink washes, black chalk, and graphite on off-white (now oxidized) laid paper.
- Dimensions: 13 5/8 x 20 1/8 in. (34.6 x 51.1 cm)
- Credit Line: Gift of Diane, Daniel, and Mathew Wolf, in memory of Diane R. Wolf, 2003
- Object Number: 2003.436
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing
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