Ludwig I commissioned The Flood for the Neue Pinakothek, the new public gallery that he began to build in 1846. Schorn, at this time appointed professor at the Munich Art Academy in 1847, was thus assured of maximum exposure for his work. Ludwig had already ordered a monumental history painting for the Neue Pinakothek in 1841: Wilhelm von Kaulbach’s The Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, which embodied the idealistic approach favoured at that time. By contrast, Schorn’s Flood prepared the way for what was termed the ‘realistic’ history painting of a Carl Theodor von Piloty, whose major early work Seni by the Dead Body of Wallenstein was acquired by Ludwig in 1855. Schorn died in 1850, before completing his painting. Hence some areas, notably at the lower left edge, did not progress beyond the underpainting.
