Jonathan shot, as he walked along, and the boy, running ahead, picked up the arrows and brought them back. And when they were out of sight of the court, they went toward a rock named Ezel, accessible from the wilderness and not far from the road. There David had hidden, straining his ears for the words that might mean life or death

Artist:

N.C. Wyeth

(American, 1882 - 1945)

Jonathan shot, as he walked along, and the boy, running ahead, picked up the arrows and brought them back. And when they were out of sight of the court, they went toward a rock named Ezel, accessible from the wilderness and not far from the road. There David had hidden, straining his ears for the words that might mean life or death

Alternate Title(s):Jonathan and David; The Boy Who Retrieved Jonathan's Arrows; The First Caddy
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1929
Dimensions:
42 7/8 × 32 in. (108.9 × 81.3 cm)
Permanent Collection of Kennesaw State University
Accession number: SUPP2000.1570
Research Number: NCW: 1570
InscribedLower right: N. C. WYETH (underlined)
ProvenanceThe artist; Mrs. N. C. Wyeth to at least 1950 (RL inventory); (?); Dr. Noah Meadows, Marietta, GA, to 1986
Exhibition HistoryWilmington, DE, 1930(1), no. 42, as "The Boy Who Retrieved Jonathan's Arrows"; Marietta, GA, Marietta / Cobb Fine Arts Center, "The Wyeths and Other First Families in American Art," Nov. 5 - Dec. 2, 1982, no. 16, as "Jonathan and David"; Marietta, GA, 1998, no numbers
References Richard Layton, "Inventory of Paintings in the Wyeth Studio, 1950," unpublished, Wyeth Family Archives, p. 23; Douglas Allen and Douglas Allen, Jr., N. C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations and Murals (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1972), p. 259; Christine B. Podmaniczky, N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings (London: Scala, 2008), I.1110, p. 518
Curatorial RemarksIn 1942, the artist granted to the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention "second rights for unrestricted use" for this image, for which he was paid $50.00 (Herman F. Burns, Broadman Press of the Sunday School Board, to NCW Oct. 5, 1942, Wyeth Family Archives).
Image Source for printed Catalogue Raisonne:Transparency directly from painting
Photo Credit:Michael McKelvey, Photography