Figures tumbling along a red-colored river flowing through a landscape as centaurs look on
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

From center top to the foreground at center bottom, a curving red-colored river flows toward us. As various figures are carried along in its current, creatures that have the bodies of horses and human heads, arms, and torsos, stand on the shores. The centaurs hold bows and arrows and watch, some taking aim at those in the river. In the extreme foreground on either side, a steep hill rises up. In front of the hill at left we see a male centaur from behind, and against the hill at right a female centaur reclines. Each holds a bow and arrow.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.444
People
William Blake, British (London, England 1757 - 1827 London, England)
Title
The Centaurs and the River of Blood (from Dante's "Divine Comedy")
Other Titles
Series/Book Title: Dante, "The Divine Comedy"
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1824-1827
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/297460

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Watercolor, black ink, graphite, and black chalk on off-white antique laid paper
Dimensions
37.1 × 32.3 cm (14 5/8 × 12 11/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: lr: HELL Canto 12

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
1943.444
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. 812 (23)
  • David Bindman, William Blake: The Divine Comedy/Die göttliche Komödie/La divine comédie, Bibliothèque de l'Image (Paris, 2000), pl. 24 (color)

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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