some paintings depict history other paintings make history the death of general wolf by Benjamin West did both when it was first shown at London's Royal Academy in 1771 it was a sensation though not to everyone's taste it was loved by so many it became one of the most reproduced images of the time and it must have made an impression on the King of England he appointed the artist as historical painter to the court and paid him a thousand pounds a year to paint the portrait of the royal family but what made this painting such a sensation in part it was a subject james wolf was a tragic hero of the british empire the brave general who twelve years before this painting had defeated the French at the plains of Abraham in Quebec for the British it was a glorious victory but their hero wolf had died in the battle and few people would have complained that Benjamin West had not done his subject justice it's an entire history lesson an epic picture that compresses the whole of the raging battle into a single image from the British ships on the st. Lawrence River that unloaded the British troops who stormed the cliffs during the dark night hours to the final surrender under the light of dawn shown here by the British American Ranger the soldier dressed in green and wearing beaded leggings who is pointing to a British soldier running towards us general madly waving his hat and triumphantly holding the white flag of truce the French have surrendered and the French general the Maquis do Joseph McHale has been fatally wounded that's the miniature figure falling off his horse under the lightning morning sky there's even a bit of a geography lesson the Ranger and the Native American warrior below him are there to remind the viewer the battle took place in the colonies of the new world of course it's not real history there were no photographers there to document the scene and it's unlikely the dying General would have been surrounded by his senior officers after all they were a little busy fighting a battle rather it's myth making and part of the paintings sensational reception was the style used to paint it Benjamin West was a British subject born in the American colonies before arriving in London he spent a few years studying art in Italy there he learned a just emerging style of painting based on the classical art and architecture of the Greeks and Romans this neoclassical style strived to achieve the pure or ideal art of those earlier times take a look at the main group in the foreground the fatally wounded general surrounded by soldiers the figures of the men are precise and detailed the colors here are sharp and clear even vibrant look at how the bright red of Wolf's uniform stands out now compare that to the background the colors are muted and the figures are smaller and less precise to create some illusion of depth these techniques create an effect similar to that of low relief sculpture like this which had been common in the classical Roman art the composition of the main group was adapted from other works as well notice how the flag and a group of soldiers surrounding Wolfe create a visual triangle that leads the eye to the generals face it's a composition that was often used in religious scenes especially depictions of the death of Jesus such as the swift cut the lamentation by Al Clarke Judea the artist used the models from the past but in a new way still it wasn't just a heroic subject and the neoclassical style that made this painting so sensational so what was it well it may sound funny today but the controversy was about how the people were dressed up until then people in historical paintings had been shown in the nude or dressed in the classical style of the Greeks and the Romans for instance do you recognize this fellow that's general Wolff himself the sculpture was done at about the same time as the painting though he was warned not to Benjamin West broke with tradition and painted his soldiers in their actual military uniforms it was a daring decision and sparked a huge controversy and debate but the people loved you are their quality and history paintings were never the same you