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A drawing of a muscular naked man on his knees with his head thrown back.

A drawing, in red, of a muscular naked man on his knees with his head thrown back in suffering. His arms are behind him and his hands are hidden. Two women move behind him in flowing dresses, arms outstretched towards the right. One woman faces the viewer with a worried expression, the other faces away. There is an architectural element to the right of the man below which a figure reclines backward with its right arm above their head.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1959.162
People
William Blake, British (London, England 1757 - 1827 London, England)
Title
The Death Chamber, possible sketch for "Jerusalem"
Other Titles
Alternate Title: The Stoning of Achan(?)
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
c. 1800-1807
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/296969

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Red chalk on cream antique laid paper
Dimensions
16.5 x 23 cm (6 1/2 x 9 1/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • watermark: fragment of coat-of-arms
  • inscription: lower left, graphite: Original Drawing by William Blake. 5. P.
  • inscription: lower right, graphite: Fixed
  • inscription: verso, lower left, graphite: Blake The Death Chamber / [illegible text] Samuel Palmer [?]
  • inscription: verso, lower right, graphite: Hand [illegible text] 13 1/9 x 11 No. 316

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Samuel Palmer. A. H. Palmer. Tregaskis, offered 1893. T. Mackenzie Fowler, sold [Sotheby's, December 16, 1912, lot 96 as "Male and Female Figures at an Altar"]; to Parsons. C. Bellingham Smith. [Colnaghi's, London, 1929]. Meta and Paul J. Sachs, Cambridge, by 1930, gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1959

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Meta and Paul J. Sachs
Accession Year
1959
Object Number
1959.162
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Exhibition of Eighteenth Century English Painting in Honor of Professor Chauncey B. Tinker of Yale University, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, 1930), cat. no. 2
  • William Blake, 1757-1827: A Descriptive Catalogue of an Exhibition of the Works of William Blake Selected from Collections in the United States, exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia, 1939), p. 144, cat. no. 198, repr.
  • Hans Tietze, European Master Drawings in the United States, J. J. Augustin, Inc. (New York, 1947), p. 230, cat. no. 115, repr.
  • The Art of William Blake: Bi-Centennial Exhibition, exh. cat., National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C., 1957), p. 30, repr.
  • David Bindman, Blake as an Artist, Phaidon Press / E. P. Dutton (Oxford, England /New York, NY, 1977), pp. 179-180
  • Joseph Meder, The Mastery of Drawing, Abaris Books (New York, 1978), Vol. I, pp. 26, 201, 442 repr. p. 201 as plate 210
  • Morton D. Paley, William Blake, Phaidon (Oxford, 1978), repr. as plate 105
  • Martin Butlin, William Blake, exh. cat., Tate Britain (London, England, 1978), pp. 128, 132
  • Konrad Oberhuber, European Master Drawings of Six Centuries from the Collection of the Fogg Art Museum, exh. cat., National Museum of Western Art (Tokyo, 1979), cat. no. 94, n.p., pl. 94, repr.
  • Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT and London, England, 1981), vol. II, no. 565, pl. 802
  • Martin Butlin, William Blake, 1757-1827, Tate Publishing (London, 1990), p. 120
  • Martin Myrone and Amy Concannon, William Blake, exh. cat., Tate Publishing (London, 2019), p. 214 (checklist)

Exhibition History

  • Eighteenth Century English Paintings: An Exhibition in Honor of Professor Chauncey B. Tinker of Yale University, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 05/05/1930 - 05/19/1930
  • Works of William Blake Selected from Collections in the United States, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 02/18/1939 - 03/20/1939
  • Untitled exhibition of French drawings, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, 10/08/1943 - 11/21/1943
  • Exhibition of Watercolors and Drawings by William Blake, 1757-1827, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 10/01/1947 - 11/30/1947
  • The Art of William Blake, National Gallery of Art, 10/18/1957 - 12/01/1957
  • The Art of the Sublime: Romantic Art 1750-1850, Pomona College Gallery, 04/16/1964 - 05/17/1964
  • European Master Drawing of Six Centuries from the Collection of the Fogg Art Museum, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 11/03/1979 - 12/16/1979
  • William Blake, Tate Britain, London, 09/11/2019 - 02/02/2020

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