After Benjamin West, PRA (American, 1738-1820) Belisarius and the Boy, 1805 Pencil on paper 7-3/8 x 5-5/8 inches (18.7 x 14.3 cm) (sheet) Signed and dated lower right: B. West / 1805 Property from the William A. Glaser Collection PROVENANCE: Ansdell collection; Their sale: Litchfield Auction Gallery, Litchfield, Connecticut, November 24, 1984, lot 131; Acquired by the present owner from the above. For colonial Americans, the story of Belisarius, a once-celebrated Byzantine general of the 6th century B.C. targeted by competitors who relieved him of both fortune and favor, served as a poignant allegory of patriotic virtue undermined by imperial greed. West was no stranger to this subject, painting the scene in 1802 (now in the Detroit Institute of Arts), and again in 1804 (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston); his work was distributed in print form in 1811 thanks to the combined efforts of draftsman Henry Corbould and engraver Henry Moses (H. Moses, ed., The Gallery of Pictures Painted by Benjamin West, Esq., Historical Painter to His Majesty and President of the Royal Academy, Engraved in Outline by Henry Moses, London, 1811, pl. 3). HID12401132022 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice