A man sitting on the ground raising his hands in the air as others kneel around him
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

At center, a man with white hair and a long flowing beard wears a sorrowful expression as he sits on a rock. Bare-chested and wearing a cloth around his waist, he raises his arms above his head, showing sores on his arms, chest, and legs. At left a woman in a long robe kneels facing him, her head bowed to the ground. At right, a group of three men, one behind the other, kneel in profile also facing him, bowing their heads and folding their hands. Behind is a stone archway at right and mountains in the distance.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.417
People
William Blake, British (London, England 1757 - 1827 London, England)
Title
Let the Day Perish Wherein I Was Born (The Book of Job)
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Job's Despair
Series/Book Title: The Book of Job
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1821
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/297853

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Watercolor, black ink and graphite on cream laid paper
Dimensions
22.6 x 27 cm (8 7/8 x 10 5/8 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • watermark: GM

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
1943.417
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. 551 (8), pl. 740
  • 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. 8, "Let the day perish wherein I was born"
  • Meira Perry-Lehmann, There Was a Man in the Land of Uz: William Blake's Illustrations to the Book of, Israel Museum (Jerusalem, Israel, 1992), repr. p. 40

Related Objects

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