Study for Noah's Ark, Plate 40, Physica Sacra

About this artwork

Research in Progress

Art Historical Context

Johann Melchior Füli, a Swiss artist active in the late Baroque period, created this preparatory study before 1731 Plate 40 for the ambitious publication *Physica Sacra*. The work captures a landscape intended to frame the biblical story of Noah’s Ark, blending natural scenery with scriptural narrative. As a study rather than a finished plate, it offers insight into the artist’s process of composing dramatic settings that would later be engraved for wide distribution. Classified among landscapes in the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection, the piece reflects the era’s growing interest in merging scientific observation with religious themes. Füssli’s careful attention to terrain and atmosphere would have helped readers visualize sacred events within believable natural environments. Acquired through the Mary Hearn Greims Fund, the drawing now invites modern viewers to appreciate how 18th-century illustrators used landscape as both backdrop and interpretive tool.