Job’s Sons and Daughters Overwhelmed by Satan
Blake, William
1823-26
Artwork Information
-
Title:
Job’s Sons and Daughters Overwhelmed by Satan
-
Artist:
Blake, William
-
Artist Bio:
British, 1757–1827
-
Date:
1823-26
-
Medium:
Engraving
-
Dimensions:
7 13/16 x 6 inches
-
Credit Line:
Wichita Art Museum, Gift of Mr. Robert Fizzell
-
Object Number:
1964.3.4
-
Display:
Not Currently on Display
About the Artwork
William Blake developed his own pictorial vocabulary of symbols from a study of the Bible, the writing of poet John Milton, and the writings of philosopher and mystic Emmanuel Swedenborg. He rejected the imitation of nature as a mechanical exercise and claimed imagination as the basis of art.
Blake created his own particular figurative style from a study of the imagery of German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dьrer, and the Italian Renaissance masters Michelangelo, Raphael, and Giulio Romano. Blake never saw these artists’ works in person but studied them second-hand from the engraved copies made by Marcantonio Raimondi. The linear character of Blake’s pictorial sources encouraged the development of the artist’s own stylistic preference for decorative curvilinear form, elongated proportions, and the communication of emotion through exaggerated, acrobatic, figurative movement. Scholars regard Blake’s Illustrations of the Book of Job to be the artist’s supreme achievement in the medium of engraving.