‘The Deluge and the Ark on the Waters,’ by Thomas Dalziel

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The Deluge and the Ark on the Waters

Thomas Dalziel

Date uncertain: 1863–1880

Proof wood engraving cut by the Dalziel Brothers, printed on India paper

The double image: 8½ x 7 inches

Illustration in Dalziels’ Bible Gallery, Plate 3

This double image visualizes scenes from Genesis, chapters 6–9. Both engravings are intense, expressionistic designs in which the artist accentuates the thrashing movement of the rain and waves, in each case playing on the dramatic effects of gloomy light. [Commentary continues below.]

Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke. [Click on the image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links.]

The second composition is especially powerful, with the sense of jeopardy being projected in the Ark’s unsteadiness as it founders, a vast but endangered vessel on a colossal sea, with waves as sharp as mountain points crashing all around it. This is a type of imagery that recalls the apocalyptic paintings and illustrations of John Martin and Francis Danby, engaging with the high level of Biblical knowledge that was commonplace among the Victorian middle-classes. The doom-laden seascapes are well realized by the Dalziels’ dramatic blocking of blackness heightened by staccato inflections of white.

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Bibliography

Dalziels’ Bible Gallery. London: Routledge, 1881 [1880].

Created 5 August 2026