Physical description
Portrait format painting depicting a child on it's mother's lap, with the child looking directly a the viewer and the mother looking down at the child.
Place of Origin
Great Britain, UK (probably, painted)
Date
1810 (painted)
Artist/maker
Blake, William, born 1757 - died 1827 (artist)
Materials and Techniques
tempera on canvas
Marks and inscriptions
'Fresco
by
Wm Blake
1810'
Dimensions
Height: 76.5 cm estimate, Width: 63.5 cm estimate
Object history note
Thomas Butts; Thomas Butts jnr.; SIr William Stirling Maxwell; General Archibald Stirling; Lt.-Col. William Stirling; Paul Mellon; Given to the V&A by Paul Mellon, 1953
Descriptive line
Tempera painting entitled 'The Virgin and Child in Egypt' by William Blake. Great Britain, 1810.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Butlin, Martin. William Blake. exh.cat. Tate Gallery: London, 1978, p. 111, cat. no. 214
The following is the full text of the entry:
"214 The Virgin and Child in Egypt 1810
Tempera on canvas, 30 x 25 (76.2 x 63.5).
Signed 'Fresco by Willm Blake 1810'.
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Matthew 2: 14-15. In the background are the pyramids of Egypt, symbols of the materialism and repressive religion that Christ's birth was to overthrow.
This painting seems to form part of a set of four together with 'Adam naming the Beasts', which is signed and dated 1810 in the same form, its companion 'Eve naming the Birds' (both at Pollok House, Glasgow), and 'Christ Blessing' (Fogg Museum). All share the same size and general format with a half-length figure, and all belonged to Thomas Butts and were later, except for 'Christ Blessing', in the Stirling Maxwell collection. In each pair of pictures, 'Adam' and 'Eve', 'The Virgin and Child' and 'Christ Blessing', the same placing of the hands, subtly varied, is contrasted as between male and female (see figs.16-18). The two pairs represent the male and female protagonists of the Creation and Fall on the one hand, and of Man's Salvation on the other."
W. M. Rossetti, "Annotated Catalogue" in A. Gilchrist Life of William Blake, 2 vols, 1863, II, p.230, no.185.
W. M. Rossetti, "Annotated Catalogue" in A. Gilchrist Life of William Blake, 2 vols, 1880 (enlarged edition), II, p.243, no.211.
G.keynes, William Blake's Illustrations to the Bible, 1957, p.30, no.97, repr
Butlin, M. "The Bicentenary of William Blake", Burlington Magazine c, 1958, pp.40, 43
A. S. Roe "The Thunder of Egypt", in A. H. Rosenfeld (ed.) William Blake: Essays for S. Foster Damon, 1969, p.182
Bindman, D., Blake as an Artist 1977, p.171, repr. pl.128
M. D. Paley, William Blake, 1978, p.56, repr. pl.78
Butlin, M., The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake, I, pp.483-4, cat. no. 669, repr. pl.962.
Bindman, D, William Blake: His Art and Times, 1982, p.134, fig.30.
Vikutoria & Arub?to Bijutsukan-z? : eikoku romanshugi kaigaten = The Romantic tradition in British painting, 1800-1950 : masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum / selected by Mark Evans [Japan : Brain Trust], 2002. 185 p. : ill. (chiefly col.) ; 30 cm.
Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings Accessions 1953 London: HMSO, 1963
The full text of the entry is as follows:
"BLAKE, William (1757-1827)
R.=Rossetti, W. M.: 'Annotated Lists of Blake's Paintings, Drawings and Engravings' in Volume 2 of The Life of William Blake by Alexander Gilchrist. London, 1863.
The Virgin and Child in Egypt. (R.185)
Inscribed Fresco by Wm Blake 1810.
Tempera on canvas. P.25-1953
Note: P.25-1953 was previously in the collections of Thomas Butts, Thomas Butts, Junior, Sir William Stirling Maxwell, General Archibald Stirling and Lt.-Col. William Stirling.
It was No.24 in the exhibition, 'The Tempera Paintings of William Blake', organized by the William Blake and the Arts Council in 1951."
Exhibition History
The Romantic Tradition in British Painting 1800-1950: Masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum (Prefectural Museum of Art, Hyogo, Kobe, Japan 28/01/2003-06/04/2003)
The Romantic Tradition in British Painting 1800-1950: Masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum (Koriyama City Museum of Art 22/11/2002-27/12/2002)
The Romantic Tradition in British Painting 1800-1950: Masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum (Matsuzakaya Museum, Nagoya, Japan 19/10/2002-11/11/2002)
The Romantic Tradition in British Painting 1800-1950: Masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum (Chiba Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan 24/08/2002-06/10/2002)
Masterpieces of Paintings from the Victoria and Albert Museum (Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo 01/01/1990-31/12/1991)
William Blake (Tate 01/01/1978-31/12/1978)
William Blake 1757-1827 (Hamburg, Kunsthalle 01/01/1978-31/12/1978)
William Blake 1757-1827 (Hamburg, Kunsthalle 01/01/1978-31/12/1978)
La Peinture Romantique Anglaise et les Préraphaélites (Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Le Petit Palais. 01/01/1972-31/12/1972)
The Tempera Paintings of William Blake (Arts Council 01/01/1951-31/12/1951)
Blake Centenary Exhibition (Burlington Fine Arts Club 01/01/1927-31/12/1927)
Frescoes, Prints and Drawings by William Blake (Carfax & Co. 01/01/1906-31/12/1906)
Pictures of French and British Artists of the 18th century (Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum 01/01/1902-31/12/1902)
The Works of William Blake (Burlington Fine Arts Club 01/01/1876-31/12/1876)
Subjects depicted
Egypt; Mary (Virgin Mary); Jesus
Categories
Religion; Paintings
Collection code
PDP
