Oil painting, 'The Flood', Philip James de Loutherbourg, ca. 1770-1800

This painting was acquired in 1871 as a gift from Mr C T Maud, and was catalogued at that time as "The Last Man". In fact it was known as "The Flood" or "The Deluge" and was No XXVIII at Macklin's "Third Exhibition of Pictures by the artists of Britain, illustrative of the British Poets and the Bible" held at the Gallery of Poets, Pall Mall and Fleet Street, April 1790. It is possible that Mr Maud called his picture "The Last Man" after Thomas Campbell's poem of that title first published 1823, but John Martin also painted a work called "The Last Man", and his picture was exhibited at the Art Treasures Exhibition, Manchester in 1857. This work was identified as being "The Flood" by Prof. Gowing, and it was engraved as such in Macklin's Bible.

Given by Charles T. Maud

Given by Charles T. Maud, 1871
Taken from 'Somersetshire parishes; a handbook of historical reference to all places in the county'.
'Bathampton
Charles Theobald Maud of the Manor House, farmer, horse-breeder, and collector of pictures. Left Harrow 1808-9. Bal. Col. Oxf. BA 1818.'

Maud was also the cousin of W J Broderip, the eminent naturalist, who owned William Holman Hunt's 'The Hireling Shepherd' (City of Manchester Art Galleries). Maud originally commissioned a replica of the sheep in the background of this work, but Hunt persuaded him to commission a new piece, 'Our English Coasts (Strayed Sheep)' (Tate Britain).

Historical significance: Philippe Jacques De Loutherbourg (1740-1812) landscape painter and theatrical scene designer, was born in Strasbourg, Alsace. He was the son of a miniaturist and engraver to the court of Darmstadt. He studied at the University of Strasbourg with a view to becoming an engineer, but his interest in drawing led to him undertaking formal artistic training with Carle Van Loo. He also studied engraving and exhibited his first paintings at the Paris Salon in 1763; he was noted by Diderot for his ability to depict space and atmosphere. He was a great success in Paris, but personal unhappiness probably spurred him to leave to go on the grand tour in 1768, visiting southern France, and on to the Rhineland rather than the usual Italian cities, (he is supposed to have visited Switzerland at this time, but see catalogue entry for 1028-1886),. He then travelled on to London in 1771, with a letter of introduction from Jean Monnet, the former manager of the Opéra Comique, and friend of the famous actor David Garrick; Garrick in turn was patron to a number of London painters. At first he stayed with a colleague of Garrick's, and soon after his arrival, de Loutherbourg suggested to Garrick major changes to the scenery arrangements at Drury Lane Theatre. Garrick was impressed and employed de Loutherbourg to take on all such arrangements. Thereafter de Loutherbourg's career was significantly devoted to often pioneering theatrical design, including lighting effects. At the same time he continued to work as an easel painter, and in 1781 he was elected a member of the Royal Academy. Following his election he concentrated to a greater extent on his easel painting, taking tours of the British countryside. During the 1790s, recognising the currency of Britain's naval prowess, he painted a number of paintings which celebrated this aspect of national life. At the turn of the century collections of engravings after his paintings of British scenery were published; The Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain (1801) and The Romantic and Picturesque Scenery of England and Wales (1805). Along with other notable artists he also contributed to Thomas Macklin's Bible (1800) and to Robert Bowyer's History of England (1812), published the year he died.

When this was acquired by the museum in 1871 from Mr C. T. Maud, it was entitled "The Last Man". This presumably referred to the poem by Thomas Campbell of that title, which was not in fact published until 1823. Campbell described the idea of "The Last Man" as "...a being witnessing the extinction of his species and of the creation, and of his looking, under the fading eye of nature, at desolate cities, ships floating with the dead...". This painting was in fact identified by Lawrence Gowing in the 1940s as "The Flood", which was engraved with this title in Thomas Macklin's Bible (a photograph of the engraving is on the Departmental File for 221-1871). Richard Verdi, in 'Poussin's Deluge: The Aftermath' (The Burlington Magazine, 123, July 1981, pp.389-400) relates this to the painting by Nicholas Poussin in the Louvre, Winter: The Flood. Verdi noted that, "Between 1770 and 1800 at least eight Deluges were exhibited in England, among them a large painting by P.J. de Loutherbourg [illus Fig.11], which was completed in 1789-90" (p.397). Verdi shows how the prominent central figure in De Loutherbourg's painting was derived from Poussin's. Poussin's painting was one of four illustrating the seasons using four old testament stories; his Winter: The Flood is a much broader composition, with the central figure kneeling in the prow of a sinking boat, arms stretched upwards in supplication, only occupying a small fraction of a wider landscape. For De Loutherbourg the emotional intensity of this figure becomes the focus of his painting, his torment emphasised by the torment of sky and sea, and the helpless abandon of the figures of the woman and child, in what is clearly intended to be a family group. In fact, unlike The Last Man, this figure does not bear witness to the scene of desolation, but covers his eyes in despair, one arm stretched upwards. The inclusion of the snake on the rocks to the right of the three figures, is an echo of the prominent snake in Poussin's work, and here is plausibly an allusion to the Garden of Eden, and the original Fall of mankind. To the left, only just visible in the distance, is the Ark, again echoing Poussin's Winter: The Flood.

De Loutherbourg's The Deluge was no. xxviii at Macklin's Third Exhibition of Pictures... by the artists of Britain, illustrative of the British Poets, and the Bible held at the Gallery of Poets, Pall Mall and Fleet Street, April 1790.

For the influence of Poussin of De Loutherbourg's designe, see The Burlington Magazine, 123, July 1981, pp.389-400, Richard Verdi "Poussin's Deluge : The aftermath". In this article Verdi notes p.397 that "...at least 8 Deluges [were] exhibited in England" between 1770 and 1800, among them the De Loutherbourg. Verdi also notes that the prominence of De Loutherbourg's central figure is derived from Poussin.

De Loutherbourg was a successful stage designer. In 1781 he created a miniature theatre, the 'Eidophusikon', for the display of paintings accompanied by dramatic lighting and music. This invention partly inspired Gainsborough's 'showbox'. This was a wooden box that Gainsborough used to view his glass transparencies.

221-1871