Noah Supervising Construction of the Ark

Art Historical Context

This red chalk drawing by Sir Nicolas Dorigny captures a pivotal moment from the Book of Genesis: Noah overseeing the construction of the Ark that will preserve life during the Great Flood. Dor, a French artist active in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, spent much of his career in Rome and later England, where he became renowned for his reproductive engravings after major Italian masters. Though undated, the work reflects the Baroque interest in dramatic biblical narratives rendered with clarity and emotional resonance. Executed in red chalk on tan laid paper, the drawing showcases the medium’s warm, velvety qualities, which allow for subtle modeling of figures and architectural forms. Dorigny’s economical yet expressive line work suggests this may have served as a preparatory study, possibly for an engraving or larger composition. Such intimate works on paper offer modern viewers a glimpse into an artist’s working process. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Prints and Drawings department, the sheet measures just over eight by nine inches, inviting close contemplation of both its technical finesse and timeless subject matter.