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At the entrance to a cave is a line of seven figures that float just above the ground

At center, a bearded figure in a red robe stands facing us, holding a sword in his left hand and a laurel wreath on his head. At either side of him are three robed figures that drift toward him, hovering just above the ground. Just behind them is a rocky hill and the arched entrance to a cave. At upper left a figure lies asleep on the rocks as another holds him. Above, within the arched entrance are many penciled in notations and small quickly sketched figures.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.442
People
William Blake, British (London, England 1757 - 1827 London, England)
Title
The Shades of Homer and Other Poets of Antiquity (from Dante's "Divine Comedy")
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Homer Bearing the Sword, and his Companions
Series/Book Title: Dante, "The Divine Comedy"
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1824-1827
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/297627

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Watercolor, black ink, graphite, and black chalk on off-white antique laid paper
Dimensions
36.8 x 52.4 cm (14 1/2 x 20 5/8 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: lr: HELL Canto 4

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
1943.442
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.

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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 (7)
  • Martin Butlin and Ted Gott, William Blake in the Collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (Melbourne, 1989), pp. 56, 87
  • David Bindman, William Blake: The Divine Comedy/Die göttliche Komödie/La divine comédie, Bibliothèque de l'Image (Paris, 2000), pl. 7 (color)
  • Hatsuko Niimi, Blake's Dialogic Texts, Keio University Press (Tokyo, 2006), [in English] pp. 300-301, fig. 18

Exhibition History

  • Re-View: S426A (Large Niche) #1: The Past and the Present: British Art of the 19th Century, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 09/03/2010 - 11/20/2010
  • 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/07/2016 - 05/08/2016

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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