Elijah Taken Up in a Chariot of Fire

Giuseppe Angeli · c. 1740/1755
National Gallery of Art, Washington

Giuseppe Angeli, a Venetian painter trained in the workshop of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, painted this large canvas around 1740–1755 for the church of San Giorgio in Alga, on an island in the Venetian lagoon. It left the church when the monastery was closed in 1806–1807.

Elisha kneels in a brown robe and flings his arms wide. Above him two white horses rear in the clouds, and Elijah, white-bearded, sits in a chariot of flames, looking up, his white cloak swirling around him. A golden wheel turns at the right.

From the text

The chariot of fire and its horses (2 Kings 2:11)

Elijah going up into heaven (2 Kings 2:11)

Elisha watching and crying out (2 Kings 2:12)

Water below — the Jordan, which they had just crossed (2 Kings 2:13)

The artist’s own

White horses rather than “horses of fire” — only the chariot burns

Elijah seated calmly, looking up, rather than swept up in a whirlwind

Elisha in a heavy cloak lined with fur

Details

The horses

Two white horses rear up in the clouds.

Elijah

White-bearded, he rides in the chariot, eyes on the sky.

Elisha

Kneeling, he flings up his arms.

The wheel

A golden chariot wheel wrapped in flame.

The river

Water at the foot of the hill.

Giuseppe Angeli, Venetian, 1712–1798. National Gallery of Art, Washington (Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.70) · Oil on canvas · NGA Open Access: "Images of these works are available free of charge for any use, commercial or non-commercial, under Creative Commons Zero (CC0)." (NGA open data: published_images.csv openaccess = 1)

The verses

2 Kgs 2:9–14After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken away from you?” “Please, let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. “You have requested a difficult thing,” said Elijah. “Nevertheless, if you see me as I am taken from you, it will be yours. But if not, then it will not be so.” As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind. As Elisha watched, he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And he saw Elijah no more. So taking hold of his own clothes, he tore them in two. Elisha also picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah, and he went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the waters. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. And when he had struck the waters, they parted to the right and to the left, and Elisha crossed over.