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A crowd of figures struggling in a lake, as a three-headed creature looks on. A second image on the reverse side shows a figure floating upward among stars.

Quick, lightly sketched lines and washes of color depict a landscape as seen from above. At lower center is a lake in which various figures struggle to stay afloat. On the opposite shore, a rocky hill rises up and from a glowing cave at its base, a large three headed creature watches. At upper right, a figure falls head first in a cloud in the sky. The reverse side of the page shows a light sketch of a robed figure ascending in space with arms stretched out overhead. At lower left is a large star shape and above it are four smaller stars.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.440
People
William Blake, British (London, England 1757 - 1827 London, England)
Title
The Circle of Gluttons (from Dante's "Divine Comedy"); verso: a soaring figure amid stars, probably for "Enoch"
Other Titles
Alternate Title: The Circle of the Gluttons, with Cerberus
Series/Book Title: Dante, "The Divine Comedy"
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1824-1827
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/297661

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Watercolor, black ink, graphite, and black chalk on off-white antique laid paper; verso: graphite
Dimensions
36.9 x 52.3 cm (14 1/2 x 20 9/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • watermark: W ELGAR / 1796

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
1943.440
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
  • Marjorie B. Cohn, Wash and Gouache: A Study of the Development of the Materials of Watercolor, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, 1977), pp.14, 18, 32, cat. no. 5 p. 90
  • Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT and London, England, 1981), no. 812 (11), pl. 1052
  • Martin Butlin and Ted Gott, William Blake in the Collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (Melbourne, 1989), pp. 54, 62
  • David Bindman, William Blake: The Divine Comedy/Die göttliche Komödie/La divine comédie, Bibliothèque de l'Image (Paris, 2000), pl. 11 (color)
  • David Bindman, Stephen Hebron, and Michael O'Neill, Dante Rediscovered: From Blake to Rodin, exh. cat., The Wordsworth Trust (Grasmere, UK, 2007), p. 33, fig. 12

Exhibition History

  • Wash and Gouache: A Study of the Development of the Materials of Watercolor, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 05/12/1977 - 06/22/1977

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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