The Fall of Man
Watercolour
1807 (painted)
1807 (painted)
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Place of origin |
Watercolour drawing, 'The Fall of Man'.
Object details
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Object type | |
Title | The Fall of Man (assigned by artist) |
Materials and techniques | Pen and watercolour on thin card |
Brief description | Watercolour by William Blake entitled 'The Fall of Man'. Great Britain, 1807. |
Physical description | Watercolour drawing, 'The Fall of Man'. |
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Object history | Provenance: Thomas Butts; Thomas Butts jun., sold Foster's 29 June 1853 (no. 89); Sir William Stirling-Maxwell, Bt.; Gen, Archibald Stirling; Lt.-Col. William Stirling; sold 1953 to the Victoria and Albert Museum It was no. 27 at the Blake Exhibition held in 1947 at the René Drouin Gallery, Paris and elsewhere. Historical significance: Blake worked on various versions of the Last Judgement from 1806 until the end of his life. David Bindman remarks on how, in The Fall of Man, Blake shows a synoptic view of the Fall, with Christ (rather than the Archangel Michael) leading Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden (Bindman, p. 165). God the Father is enthroned in the sphere of Heaven, and at the bottom Hell gapes open, and Sin and Death emerge. The Last Judgement is the subject of a companion watercolour of 1806 (A Vision of the Last Judgement, 1806, Pollock House, Glasgow). In this work Adam and Eve appear in contrition before the throne, while the trump-blowing Angels descend to confront the Beast consumed in flames. |
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Collection | |
Accession number | P.29-1953 |
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Record created | June 19, 2008 |
Record URL |
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