$An image of a figure with wings, riding on a fast-moving horse traveling in an angle downward and towards the left of the painting, amid layers of irregular, overlapping shapes in pale tones of green, brown, yellow, blue, and orange. Stars are overlaid on the left side of the painting with wavy lines emanating from the horse's nostril and across the painting and again, partially near the bottom quarter of the piece. Arcs overlap along the bottom left corner along with other, more fractured shapes throughout. The overall style is angular and somewhat flat, echoing features of Art Deco and cubism. Some brush strokes are visible, especially on the horse, with its long tail and jagged mane. The rear legs are outstretched as though the horse is flying. In fact, the piece depicts the angel of death, with wings borrowed from the archangel Gabriel, racing down from the heavens on horseback to rescue a woman from a life of suffering. The piece was one of seven included as part of a collaboration with noted author and civil rights advocate James Weldon Johnson's Harlem Renaissance-era book, God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse, 1927. The original medium was oil on masonite, a type of hardboard, a kind of engineered wood, which is made of steam-cooked and pressure-molded wood fibers. The artist's signature, [A. Douglas] is noted near the bottom right corner, and the painting has a black border.$

See more objects with the tag figures, color transitions, narrative, abstract.

Object Timeline

	We acquired this object.
1934	Work on this object began.
2017	We photographed this object. We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

Object ID #1108760847

This is a Painting. It was painted by Aaron Douglas. It is dated 1934. Its medium is oil on masonite.

Painted by Douglas after his earlier illustration for songwriter and later civil rights advocate James Weldon Johnson’s book of poetry God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse (1927), this work depicts the Angel of Death riding at God’s command to bring the soul of a dying woman back to heaven.

It is credited The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund and Gift of Prof. and Mrs. David C. Driskell, 2005.181.