Physical description
Landscape format painting with the predominant colours being green and yellow, depicting a woman steadying a child who is riding a sheep, with another child leading.
Place of Origin
Great Britain, United Kingdom (probably, painted)
Date
1800 (painted)
Artist/maker
Blake, William, born 1757 - died 1827 (artist)
Materials and Techniques
pen and tempera on canvas
Dimensions
Height: 27.3 cm estimate, Width: 38.7 cm estimate
Object history note
Purchased, 1953
Thomas Butts; Thomas Butts jnr.; SIr William Stirling Maxwell; General Archibald Stirling; sold to the V&A by Lt.-Col. William Stirling of Kier.
Descriptive line
Tempera painting entitled 'Our Lady with the Infant Jesus Riding on a Lamb with St John' by William Blake. Great Britain, 1800.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Butlin, Martin. William Blake. exh.cat. Tate Gallery: London, 1978, p. 76, cat. no. 138
The following is the full text of the entry:
"138 Our Lady with the Infant Jesus Riding on a Lamb, with
St. John1800
Pen and tempera on canvas, 10¾ x 15¼ (27.3 x 38.7).
Signed 'WB inv [as monogram] 1800'.
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Like the other paintings of the infancy of Christ this is not based on a biblical text, but the subject is a traditional one. Blake follows precedent in including St. John, the bridge between the dispensations of the Old and New Testaments, and in using the symbolism of the lamb, a prefiguration of Christ's sacrifice."
Butlin, Martin. The paintings and drawings of William Blake. Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press, New Haven; London, 1981, p. 328, cat. no. 409
The following is the full text of the entry:
"409 OUR LADY WITH THE INFANT JESUS RIDING ON A LAMB
WITH ST. JOHN
1800
The Victoria and Albert Museum (P26-1953)
Pen and tempera on canvas 10¾ X 15¼ (27.3 X 38.7).
Signed 'WB inv [in monogram] 1800' on tree trunk b.r.
Coll: Thomas Butts; Thomas Butts jun., sold Foster's 29 June 1853 (79) 11/- bt. Sir William Stirling-Maxwell, Bt.; General Archibald Stirling; Lt.-Col. William Stirling of Keir, sold 1953 to the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Exh: B.F.A.C. 1876 (149); Glasgow 1902 (117); Carfax 1906 (12); Tate Gallery (23) and Manchester (19) 1913-14; B.F.A.C. 1927 (18, repr. pl. 14); Paris, Antwerp (repr. pl, 8), Zurich and Tate Gallery (repr.) 1947 (13); Arts Council 1951 (19, repr. pl. 5); Santa Barbara 1976 (98; 78, repr.); Bible Victoria and Albert Museum 1977-8 (76); Tate Gallery 1978 (138, repr. in colour).
Lit: Rossetti 1863, p. 230 no. 186, and 1880, p. 243 no. 212; Keynes Bible 1957, p. 30 no. 100, repr.; Blunt 1959, p. 66; Miner in Rosenfeld 1969, p. 290; Bindman 1977, pp. 123, 127, 129.
Repr: Figgis 1925, pl. 41 in colour.
Restored by Dr. John Hell in 1953-4."
W. M. Rossetti, "Annotated Catalogue" in A. Gilchrist Life of William Blake, 2 vols, 1863, II, p.230, no.186.
W. M. Rossetti, "Annotated Catalogue" in A. Gilchrist Life of William Blake, 2 vols, 1880 (enlarged edition), II, p.243, no.212.
G.keynes, William Blake's Illustrations to the Bible, 1957, p.30, no.100, repr.
Blunt, A. The Art of William Blake, 1959, p.66
P. Miner "Visions in the Darksom Air: Aspects of Blake's Biblical sumbolism", in A. H. Rosenfeld (ed.) William Blake: Essays for S. Foster Damon, 1969, p.290.
Bindman, D., Blake as an Artist 1977, pp.123, 127, 129.
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 Christ Child riding on a Lamb. (R.186)
Signed and dated W B inv 1800.
Tempera on canvas. P.26-1953
Note: P.26-1953 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.13 at the Blake exhibition held at the René Drouin Gallery, Paris, and elsewhere, in 1947, and No.19 in the exhibition 'The Tempera Paintings of William Blake', organized by the William Blake Trust and the Arts Council in 1951."
Exhibition History
William Blake (Tate 01/01/1978-31/12/1978)
The Bible in British Art (Victoria and Albert Museum 01/01/1977-31/12/1978)
Blake in the Art of his Time (University of California, Los Angeles 01/01/1976-31/12/1976)
The Tempera Paintings of William Blake (Arts Council 01/01/1951-31/12/1951)
William Blake (1857-1827) (Galerie Rene Drouin, Paris 01/01/1947-31/12/1947)
William Blake (1857-1827) (Galerie Rene Drouin, Paris 01/01/1947-31/12/1947)
William Blake (1857-1827) (Musee Royal des Beaux Arts, Antwerp 01/01/2014-31/12/2014)
William Blake (1857-1827) (Galerie Rene Drouin, Paris 01/01/1947-31/12/1947)
Blake Centenary Exhibition (Burlington Fine Arts Club 01/01/1927-31/12/1927)
Works by William Blake (Tate 01/01/1913-31/12/1914)
Frescoes, Prints and Drawings by William Blake (Carfax & Co. 01/01/1906-31/12/1906)
Pictures by 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)
Materials
Canvas; Pen; Tempera
Techniques
Drawing; Painting
Subjects depicted
Mary (Virgin Mary); John (Saint John the Baptist); Lamb; Jesus Christ
Categories
Christianity; Paintings
Collection code
PDP
