Luce Foundation Center for American Art

This painting shows Israfel, one of the four archangels in Islam. He is usually portrayed in Oriental dress holding a trumpet, which followers believe he will sound on the Day of Resurrection. Here, Claude Buck depicted Israfel as an apparently female angel in a white gown. The painting may have been inspired by the poem "Israfel," by Edgar Allan Poe. Buck was very interested in Poe and created many paintings based on him and his work. The vision of heaven described in the poem with its "giddy stars" and moon that "blushes with love" may have inspired Buck's swirling sky and glowing red moon.

This object is featured in the Luce Center's Mix Tape.

This artwork was recommended by citizen curators as part of our Fill the Gap project on Flickr. They said: "DRAMA SURREALISM SOULFULL" "It's haunting." "It shares the same sense of mystery and spiritualism as several other paintings." "A number of the paintings in this case deal with visions, angels, annunciations, etc. plus, it has the same romantic flavor of many of the works." by Jeff Regensburger "Lovely, different, so vivid" "Follows a general theme, colors compliment other works in case 7b, making the case aesthetically pleasing. Interesting painting that can stimulate inquiring minds and provoke thought." by Katie S of Chesapeake, VA "Religious subject matter, mystic look" "B/c its cool." "The movement is powerful an lives an unholy balance" by Cris Baez "It provides a contrast with all the other images. Because of the color and the shapes, it draws in the viewer." by Cassandra Ropecky "It is supernatural and dynamic—it would hold its own due to the composition and expressive nature of the work." "Nice green color." "The painting is very ghoul like Fitting in w/ the one below it." "Because it applied to the rest"