Add to Collection

Add this item to an existing or new collection.
Harvard Art Museums
Incorrect Username, Email, or Password
A devil with scaly skin, standing on a man and tormenting him

At center, a man, naked with scaly red skin and a black circle surrounding his head, stands on the chest of a bearded man lying prone on his back on the ground. The scaly man faces the viewer as he looking down. His left arm is extended out to the side and from it, arrows shoot down aimed at the man below. In his right hand he upends a jar, from which long gray flame-like shape burst out toward the man’s head. A woman kneels, bowing her head at the feet of the prone man, while in the distance, the sun sets and a cloud of thick smoke billows behind them.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.418
People
William Blake, British (London, England 1757 - 1827 London, England)
Title
And Smote Job with Sore Boils from the Sole of His Foot to the Crown of His Head (The Book of Job)
Other Titles
Series/Book Title: The Book of Job
Alternate Title: Satan Smiting Job with Boils
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1821
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/297590

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Watercolor, black ink and graphite on cream laid paper
Dimensions
23.2 x 27.9 cm (9 1/8 x 11 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
1943.418
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

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 (6), pl. 738
  • 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. 6, "And smote Job with sore Boils from the sole ..."

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2220 18th-19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 05/05/2016 - 09/13/2016

Related Works

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