Elijah and the Widow's Son, from "Dalziels' Bible Gallery"

Camden Press|Scribner and Welford|Dalziel Brothers|Ford Madox Brown

1865–81 · Wood engraving on India paper, mounted on thin card · Drawings and Prints

Brown trained in the Netherlands then worked in France and England before befriending the Pre-Raphaelites in 1848. He gave painting lessons to Dante Gabriel Rossetti and absorbed aspects of William Holman Hunt’s intense realism. Hunt contributee three designs to Dalziels’ Bible Gallery, including this striking image of Elijah restoring a boy to life from 1 Kings 17:17–24. The prophet’s spiritual and physical vigor is evident as he carries a youth, still wrapped in a shroud, down a flight of stairs to his grateful mother. Authentic Middle Eastern architecture and accouterments combined with dramatic poses bring the scene vibrantly to life.

Artist

Camden Press|Scribner and Welford|Dalziel Brothers|Ford Madox Brown

Date

1865–81

Medium

Wood engraving on India paper, mounted on thin card

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Anonymous Gift, 1926