A group of figures kneel, looking up at a man perched on a cloud surrounded by angels
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

At center, a figure with a flowing beard crouches, perched on a band of clouds with his arms outstretched. To his right, a winged being with a crescent moon over her head leads a pair of serpent-like creatures. To the left of him, a winged being with a sun behind his head drives four horses in front of him. Above the bearded figure, a line of angels stand singing on a thin cloud, their arms raised and stars visible behind them. At bottom, a group of four men and one woman kneel on the ground looking upward at the scene.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.410
People
William Blake, British (London, England 1757 - 1827 London, England)
Title
When the Morning Stars Sang Together and All the Sons of God Shouted for Joy (The Book of Job)
Other Titles
Series/Book Title: The Book of Job
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1821
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/297989

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Watercolor, black ink and graphite on off-white paper
Dimensions
28.1 × 18.5 cm (11 1/16 × 7 5/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Grenville Lindall Winthrop, New York, bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1943

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.410
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Agnes Mongan, "The Fogg Art Museum's Collection of Drawings", Harvard Library Bulletin, Harvard University (Cambridge, 1958), vol. 3, no. 2, March, pp. 5-9, p. 202
  • Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT and London, England, 1981), no. 551 (14), pl. 746
  • David Bindman, ed., William Blake's Illustrations to the Book of Job, The William Blake Trust (London, England, 1987), repr. ill. B on p. 3 of pl. 14, "When the morning Stars sang together"
  • Chikashi Kitazaki and Mina Oya, ed., Between Reality and Dreams: Nineteenth Century British and French Art from the Winthrop Collection of the Fogg Art Museum, exh. cat., National Museum of Western Art (Ueno, 2002), p. 57, fig. 11

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu