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Three nude male figures falling in space

Three naked males tumble through space in a dark abyss. The figure at center stretches his legs downward and to the left, while reaching up behind him to a figure above him at right, and looking left at another figure. He clutches the yellow hair of the figure behind him, pulling his head back and straight down as he reaches out with both hands. Meanwhile, the man at center wraps his right arm around the arm of the dark haired man at left, who himself topples forward, wearing a cloth that billows outward. Gray and black washes color an expanse of clouds in the background.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.409
People
William Blake, British (London, England 1757 - 1827 London, England)
Title
Fallen Angels
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Three Falling Figures
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
c. 1793
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/297808

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Watercolor, black ink and graphite on cream laid paper
Dimensions
19.2 x 28.6 cm (7 9/16 x 11 1/4 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.409
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT and London, England, 1981), no. 256, pl. 306
  • [Reproduction only], Exposé (Essays from the Harvard Expository Writing Program), Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, 1994 - 1995)., repr.
  • Ewa Lajer-Burcharth and Elizabeth M. Rudy, ed., Drawing: The Invention of a Modern Medium, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, 2017), pp. 208-209, repr. p. 209 as fig. 5

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