ANNOTATED LISTS OF BLAKE'S PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, AND ENGRAVINGS. * Means considerable size. LIST No. I. WORKS IN COLOUR. The works not otherwise defined are known or assumed to be water-colours. To designs which have been engraved the dates of the engravings or books are given, unless anything is known to the contrary. SECTION A.-DATED WORKS. ARRANGED IN ORDER OF DATE. I. 1778-9.-The Penance of Jane Shore in St. Paul's Church. Varnished Water-colour. See p. 31, Vol. I., and Blake's Descriptive Catalogue, p. 163, Vol. II. 2. Circa 1779.-King Edward and Queen Eleanor. Vol. I. See p. 31, 3. 1780.-The Death of Earl Godwin. See p. 35, Vol. I. 4. 1784.-War unchained by an Angel-Fire, Pestilence, and Famine following. [Butts.] See p. 54, Vol. I. 5. 1784.-A Breach in a City-the Morning after a Battle. P. 54, Vol. I. See The colour slight, but the tone strong and full, with the darkness of earliest dawn. Women lie mourning over the heaped dead a widow bemoaning her knight, and a woman and aged man proceeding upon their search, are the chief figures, the subject being prolonged far into the background. An eagle has settled to the left, watching for the departure of the mourners, impatient till his banquet begins. Able and impressive. (This was called in the Catalogue of the Bicknell sale, 1863, 'The Plague': decidedly a mistake.) Mr. Alfred Aspland possesses another version of the same subject, with a date which may perhaps be 1780. 6. 1785. The Bard, from Gray. See p. 56, Vol. I., p. 152, Vol. II. 7. 1785.-Joseph's Brethren bowing before him. See p. 57, Vol. I. The colour does not play any very considerable part in this and the two companion designs. The brothers form a grand, sheaf-like group. 8. 1785.-Joseph ordering Simeon to be bound. No., and p. 57. Vol. I. See preceding A sketch water-colour of the same composition is also extant. 9. 1785.-Joseph making himself known to his Brethren. Remarkable for its bursting spontaneity of emotion. The figure of Joseph is especially pure and impulsive. (Nos. 7, 8, and 9, appeared in the International Exhibition, 1862.) 10. 1790.-The Flight into Egypt. [Butts.] Tempera. An Angel accompanies Joseph, and two others follow the Virgin and Child, while the air around them is peopled with Cherubs. Pretty enough: surface greatly cracked, but now partially renewed. II. 1790.-Christ blessing the little Children. [Butts.] Tempera. Fine. The surface cracked, but repaired. 12. 1790.-' Death and Hell teem with Life.' Carefully finished: engraved in the 'Marriage of Heaven and Hell," leaf 10. 13. 1793.-A young man gazing remorsefully upon another bound upon a rock. [Linnell.] Similar to the head-piece of the 'America,' but without the female figure, and a good deal larger. Darkish tone of colouring. 14. 1793.-Design for the Frontispiece to the 'Daughters of Albion.' [Linnell.] Excellent in colour. 15. 1793 or 1795.-*Nebuchadnezzar. [Butts.] Colour-printed. Crawling on all fours in his shaggy insanity. The tawny beard trails across the left hand: the nails are literally 'like birds' claws,' and the flesh tints very red and beefy.' The glaring eyes, too, have almost lost their human character. The background represents a thick jungle. A fine, wild conception. There are other impressions of this print, which (as in similar cases afterwards named) differ in the details and merit of the colour and handling. The figure is almost identical with the one engraved at p. 88, Vol. I. 16. 1794.-Design for the Title Page to the 'Europe.' [Linnell.] Includes a human figure not given in the engraving. The serpent, as usual, is admirable. 17. 1794.-Design from the 'Europe' of a Man at a Forge, with a Woman and a Youth. [Linnell.] Carefully coloured. 18. 1794.-A Young Man rescuing a Woman and Girl from a Conflagration. Identical, or nearly so, with the tail-piece to the 'Europe.' The colour rather harsh. 19. 1795.-The Lazar House, from Milton; called also 'The House of Death,' by Blake. [Butts.] Colour-printed. Very powerful and awful. Three of the diseased are writhing upon a mat on the ground, two others are behind. Death and Despair are also present, as in Milton. The former, a vast figure, with closed eyes, a prodigious beard like tongues of flame, and arrow-like fire darting around him, appears at the summit of the group, with outstretched arms and scroll, or, perhaps, windingsheet. The latter is a livid-green man, with a long bolt or goad in his hand, eyeing his victims with stony scrutiny. I have seen a duplicate of this great work, paler in tint. 20. 1795.-Elohim creating Adam. [Butts.] Colour-printed. The Creator is an amazingly grand figure, worthy of a primeval imagination or intuition. He is struggling, as it were, above Adam, who lies distended on the ground, a serpent twined around one leg. The colour has a terrible power in it; and the entire design is truly a mighty one-perhaps on the whole the greatest monument extant of Blake's genius. It looks as if he had literally seen (as he said) ‘those wonderful originals called in the sacred Scriptures the Cherubim, which were sculptured and painted on walls of temples, towers, cities, palaces,' and as if this were a reproduction of some such stupendous spectacle. 21. 1795.-Lamech and his two Wives. [Butts.] Colour-printed. Lamech looks with horrid remorse upon the young man be has slain his wives, beautifully grouped, cling together in dismay. Extra Blakeian in character and drawing. There is a great effect of dark sky and hills, their edges dimly defined in glimmering light. 22. 1795.-The Good and Evil Angels struggling for possession of a Child. [Butts.] Colour-printed. The Good Angel holds the Child-the Evil one, enveloped in flames, seeks to seize it; his eyes are mere sightless balls. A strong specimen of Blake's solid colour, and energetic form and action. 23. 1795.-Elijah mounted in the Fiery Chariot. Colour-printed. Elijah lays hold of the rein with his right hand his left is upon a book placed on his knees. He is draped-but Elisha, who stands before him, with joined hands, lost in a flood of beard, is perfectly naked, and looks as ancient as Elijah. The horses seem compact of fire; fire flows out in place of chariot-wheels; behind Elijah, a sphere of rolling red flame ; for sky, a blaze of VOL. II. Р yellow. A magnificent work-awful and preterhuman in its impression, even to the length of the Prophets' beards. The colour very solid, and austerely luminous. A duplicate of this is somewhat more positive and less excellent in colour. Another duplicate has black, instead of yellow, behind and upon the rays. Given in Vol. I. Chap. XIV. 24. 1795.-Newton. [Butts.] Colour-printed. A sitting naked figure among the rocks, stooping with compasses, wherewith he is measuring on the ground. Remarkably grand in action and manner, and full in the colour of the sky and rocky bank, for the peculiar execution of which see p. 421, Vol. I. 25. 1797.-Young's Night Thoughts. Blake has taken the folio edition of Young, two volumes, an inlaid copy, and has executed his designs, 537 in number, so as to form a margin round the text. See Vol. I. p. 136. 26. 1799 (?). The Last Supper. [Butts.] Tempera. The group are reclined at table in the antique mode-a point seldom or never introduced in art. Judas is so absorbed in counting over the thirty pieces of silver covertly in the palm of his hand that he remains deaf to what is being said. The effect of the lights scintillates upon a dark ground. A very interesting and, on the whole, fine picture probably the one exhibited in the Academy (p. 140—1, Vol. I.). 27. 1799. Charity. [Butts.] Tempera. Charity is embodied in a female form: there are various other figures in the composition. 28. 1799. Rachel giving Joseph the Coat of many Colours (?). [Butts.] Tempera. The aged Israel, the still blooming and lovely Rachel, and the naked boy Joseph, form a fine group of Blake's patriarchal style. Golden, but nearly colourless, in tint, with a blue sky. The supposed coat of many colours' is only coloured with a blue arabesque pattern. 29. 1799.-The Adoration of the Kings. [Butts.] Tempera. A pretty, sweet picture, with abundance of rich material. 30. 1799. The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.' (?) [Butts.] Tempera. Interesting in An old man, a woman, an angel, and six children, under a fruit-tree; the woman is a charming figure. conception, if the subject is as surmised. 31. 1799 (?).-St. Matthew. [Butts.] Tempera. Vigorously conceived. The Angel, typically associated with St. Matthew, is showing him a roll, written with blood-red characters of the Hebrew type-the record of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Matthew starts back amazed at the riches of the grace of God. 32. 1799 (?).-St. Mark. [Butts.] Tempera (?). 33. 1799. St. Luke. [Butts.] Tempera. He holds a pen, and is accompanied by the typical bull. Almost destroyed in surface. This picture, being dated, may be presumed to fix the date of the three companion-figures. 34. 1799 (?).—St. John. [Butts.] Tempera (?). 35. 1799. The child Christ taught by the Virgin to read. [Butts.] Tempera. An inferior specimen. 36. Circa 1799 (?). A spirit vaulting from a cloud SHAKESPEARE. The date is conjectured, from the statement (as above) that the work, one of Blake's first 'frescoes,' was painted many years before the date of the Catalogue (1809). 37. 1800.-The Crucifixion-the Soldiers casting lots for the Garments. [Butts.] Peculiarly treated-the Crucified Saviour, with the two thieves, being seen from behind, and the ground which lies before the cross appearing beyond. Very poetic, pictorial, and solemn in darkling effect. The soldiers form the foreground group, and have plenty of character and varied action. See p. 161, Vol. II. 38. Circa 1801.-*EIGHTEEN HEADS of the Poets. Tempera, or possibly oil. See p. 166, Vol. I. These heads are nearly life-size, each painted on a separate canvas; the heads themselves almost or quite colourless, with the character of sculptural busts, the accessories mostly coloured, within decorative limits, and illustrative of the author's genius or works. An interesting series. (a) Homer. Younger than he is usually represented, and full of life; one of the finest of the set, the colour well harmonised. Bay-wreath. Curiously enough, the illustrative accessories selected are the Mouse and Frog, very cleverly done, indicating no higher achievement in poetry than the Batrachomyomachia. (6) Euripides, or another of the Greek Tragedians. A good head. Cak-wreath. Accessories from classic legend. (c) Lucan. Accessories Cæsar, and the Decapitation of Pompey. (d) Dante. Vivid and grand : wreath and framing of bay, fine in decorative arrangement. Accessory, Ugolino. (e) Chaucer. Accessories, the Wife of Bath, &c. |