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Two men looking on at a group of figures consumed in flames

At center we see three naked figures, running in terror and falling nearly sideways while surrounded by flames. From the foreground at right, two men in long robes stand looking on. At lower left, lightly sketched figures lie on the ground and further behind them other similarly sketched figures crouch, all of whom are also caught within rising flames. Beyond them, pale washes of orange and yellow color taller flames that rise up to thick dark smoke clouds that loom overhead from the left.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.433
People
William Blake, British (London, England 1757 - 1827 London, England)
Title
Dante and Virgil Among the Blasphemers (from Dante's "Divine Comedy")
Other Titles
Series/Book Title: Dante, "The Divine Comedy"
Alternate Title: The Blasphemers, The Usurers and the Sodomites
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1824-1827
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/297948

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Watercolor, black ink, graphite, and black chalk on off-white antique laid paper
Dimensions
37 × 52.3 cm (14 9/16 × 20 9/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: ll: HELL Canto 14

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
1943.433
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Martin Birnbaum, Jacovleff and Other Artists, Paul A. Struck (New York, 1946), pl. 21
  • 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 (26)
  • David Bindman, William Blake: The Divine Comedy/Die göttliche Komödie/La divine comédie, Bibliothèque de l'Image (Paris, 2000), pl. 28 (color)

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2220 18th-19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/24/2022 - 05/02/2022

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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