Visionary and Mystical Worlds in William Blake Paintings and Prints

The Ancient of Days was made by the artist in 1794 as a cover of his book Europe a Prophecy. The title of the work refers to one of God's names found in the Book of Daniel and depicts the embodiment of reason and law, Urizen, crouching in a liminal space while holding a compass in his stretched hand. This work is probably  Blake's best-known work.

Featured image: William Blake - The Ancient of Days, 1794. Relief etching with hand coloring, 30.8 x 24.8 cm. Fitzwilliam Museum. Image via Creative Commons.

The monotype titled Newton, made in 1795 (reworked and reprinted in 1805), operates in a similar manner as the previous one. It belongs to the 12 Large Colour Prints or Large Color Printed Drawings Blake produced between 1795 and 1805. The famous scientist Isaac Newton is depicted as sited nude located on a rocky surface covered with algae at the bottom of the sea. His focus is directed toward diagrams he draws with a compass on a scroll. This work inspired the contemporary artist Eduardo Paolozzi to produce a sculpture Newton, after William Blake, installed in the piazza of the British Library.

Featured image: William Blake - Newton, 1795. Monotype print, height: 460 mm (18.1 in); width: 600 mm (23.6 in). Tate Britain. Image via Creative Commons.

A color print on paper titled Pity was produced the same year as Newton, and it also belongs to the group known as the Large Colour Prints. It was largely influenced by the Bible, Milton's Paradise Lost, and Shakespeare's Macbeth. Blake executed this work by printing it from a matrix and then finished it by hand. By conducting such a process, the artist was able to achieve up to three impressions from a single painting.

Featured image: William Blake - Pity, c. 1795. Color print finished in ink and watercolor on paper Dimensions: 425 x 539 mm. Image via Creative Commons.

In 1795, William Blake produced Satan Exulting over Eve, a rather refined composition also inspired by the 18th-century Milton's Paradise Lost, in which Satan is characterized as a heroic figure. With widespread wings, Satan flies over Eve, wrapped by his alter ego, the serpent of the Garden of Eden.

Featured image: William Blake - Satan Exulting over Eve, 1795. Graphite, pen and black ink, and watercolor over color print; height: 16.7 in (42.5 cm); width: 21 in (53.4 cm). Getty Center. Image via Creative Commons.

This particular Blake painting was based on the last scene of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The scene depicts fairy king Oberon and queen Titania becoming friends again, while Moth, Peaseblossom, Cobweb, and Mustardseed celebrate by dancing in a circle while Puck claps the beat. The artist represented fairies who dance on weightless tiptoes wearing petals, leaves, and gauzy dresses. Although they look human, the figures are smaller than a tree trunk. The silvery light from the fireflies supports their transformation into magical beings.

Featured image: William Blake - Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing, 1789. Watercolor and graphite on paper, height: 47.5 cm (18.7 in); width: 67.5 cm (26.5 in). Tate Britain. Image via Creative Commons.

The Great Red Dragon series consists of four watercolor paintings Blake produced between 1805 and 1810. During that time, the civil servant Thomas Butts commissioned more than one hundred paintings for the illustration of the Bible. These paintings feature The Great Red Dragon from the Book of Revelation.

Featured images: William Blake - The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun, between 1805 and 1810. Height: 43.7 cm, Width: 34.8 cm. Housed at the Brooklyn Museum. Image via Creative Commons. ; William Blake - The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun, between 1805 and 1810. Height: 40.8 cm, Width: 33.7 cm. Housed at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Image via Creative Commons. ; William Blake - The Great Red Dragon and the Beast from the Sea, between 1805 and 1810. Height: 40.1 cm, Width: 35.6 cm. Housed at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.  Image via Creative Commons. ; William Blake - The Number of the Beast is 666, between 1805 and 1810. Height: 40.6 cm, Width: 33.0 cm. Housed at: the Rosenbach Museum & Library. Image via Creative Commons.

This particular work also belongs to a group of watercolors depicting Biblical themes. The composition features the body of Jesus Christ, which was put in his tomb or Sepulchre after the crucifixion. During the visit to the burial, Mary Magdalen encounters two angles sitting at the head and the feet of the Son of God. Blake was inspired by the description from the Book of Exodus in the Old Testament, and this is considered to be an unusual interpretation of the biblical text.

Featured image: William Blake - The Angels hovering over the body of Christ in the Sepulchre, ca. 1805. Watercolor, pen and ink on paper, 42.0 x 30.2 cm. Victoria and Albert Museum. Image via Creative Commons.

Between 1819 and 1820, Blake made a miniature painting titled The Ghost of a Flea in a tempera mixture with gold. This work belongs to a series depicting Visionary Heads commissioned by the astrologist/artist John Varley. At that time, fantastic, spiritual, and even imagery was popular in Britain, so Blake often worked on supernatural themes to entertain and amaze his friends. The Ghost of a Flea is one of Blake's smallest works, yet impressive in terms of the artist's imagination.

Featured image: William Blake - The Ghost of a Flea, c.1819–20. Tempera heightened with gold leaf on mahogany panel; height: 21.5 cm (8.4 in); width: 16 cm (6.2 in). Tate Britain Getty. Image via Creative Commons.

Blake painted four versions of this subject for his patron; the above-mentioned Thomas Butts. The composition depicts the wise virgins on the left, reminiscent of a classical low-relief sculpture, while in contrast, their companions on the right are characterized by dark tones. The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins is based on a parable found in Matthew 25:1-13, which Jesus used to warn his followers they must be spiritually prepared.

Featured image: William Blake - The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, 1822. Image via Creative Commons.

The Lovers Whirlwind is based on a script by Dante. This illustration, made in pen and watercolor, is executed remarkably in a surrealist manner shortly before the artist dies. It features the sinful bodies of lovers rising to heaven. The Lovers Whirlwind illustrates Hell and is a scene from Canto five portraying Virgil showing Dante a vision of people affected by love to such an extent that they had died.

Featured image: William Blake - The Lovers Whirlwind, between 1824 and 1827. Pen, ink, and watercolor, 374 x 530 mm. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Image via Creative Commons.