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Research dossier · Arts & Letters

The Deluge (painting)

painting by J. M. W. Turner

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 3, 2026
Entity authorityQ134286968 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Deluge is an oil on canvas biblical landscape painting by the British artist J. M. W. Turner, from 1805. It features a vision of the biblical flood focused on a shipwreck.

It was first planned in 1804 and was originally a commission that fell through. The painting was likely to have been first exhibited at Turner's studio in Queen Anne Street in London in 1805. It was later submitted to the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition of 1813 at Somerset House. Part of the Turner Bequest of 1856, it is now in the collection of the Tate Britain, in Pimlico.

See also

List of paintings by J. M. W. Turner

References

Bibliography

Bailey, Anthony. J.M.W. Turner: Standing in the Sun. Tate Enterprises Ltd, 2013.

Hamilton, James.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Deluge (painting)” is painting by J. M. W. Turner. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Deluge, painting and Turner, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1805, 1804, 1813, 1856—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1805. For this dossier, Deluge, painting and Turner is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “painting by J. M. W. Turner” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q134286968. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1805, 1804, 1813 and 1856.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Deluge (painting)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Deluge (painting) primary sources, The Deluge (painting) archive and Deluge research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Deluge (painting)”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “The Deluge (painting)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.