The subject of Death on the Pale Horse comes from the first eight verses of the sixth chapter of The Revelation of St. John the Divine (also known as the Apocalypse, the final book of the New Testament). West's interest in New Testament subjects was influenced by the German-born Moravian artist, John Valentine Haidt. Additionally, American educator William Smith claims to have encouraged West toward spiritual pursuits and introduced him to the knowledge of "The Ancients." At the end of the eighteenth century, West's patron William Beckford encouraged his depiction of apocalyptic subject matter.
