Death on a Pale Horse by Benjamin West of 1796

This masterpiece of the American master Benjamin West was created in 1796.  It depicts the destruction depicted in the Christian Apocalypse.  It currently is in the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Benjamin West was born in 1738 Pennsylvania and was self-taught.  He began painting at the age of eight and was patronized by Dr. William Smith from the time he was eighteen.  He also began learning from the English painter John Wollaston at the same time.  Four years later he was sent to Italy to study Titian and Raphael and in 1763 he was commissioned by George III to paint members of the royal family.  West founded the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768 with Joshua Reynolds and he died in London in 1820.

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