Our Lady with the Infant Jesus Riding on a Lamb with St John thumbnail 1
Our Lady with the Infant Jesus Riding on a Lamb with St John thumbnail 2
+2
images
On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Our Lady with the Infant Jesus Riding on a Lamb with St John

Tempera Painting
1800 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Blake, William (artist)
Place of origin
Great Britain (painted)

This is one of many works that Blake painted for his principal patron, the clerk Thomas Butts. The subject of the Virgin and Child with the youthful St John the Baptist first appeared during the 1470s. The lamb is a symbol of Jesus's later sacrifice.

Object details

Categories
Christianity
Paintings
Object type
Tempera painting
TitleOur Lady with the Infant Jesus Riding on a Lamb with St John (popular title)
Materials and techniques
pen and tempera on canvas
Pen
Tempera
Canvas
Painting
Drawing
Brief description
Tempera painting entitled 'Our Lady with the Infant Jesus Riding on a Lamb with St John' by William Blake. Great Britain, 1800.
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.
Dimensions
  • Estimate height: 27.3cm
  • Estimate width: 38.7cm
Dimensions taken from departmental object file
Style
British School
Object history
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.
Subjects depicted
Lamb
The Virgin Mary
Jesus
John (Saint John the Baptist)
Summary
This is one of many works that Blake painted for his principal patron, the clerk Thomas Butts. The subject of the Virgin and Child with the youthful St John the Baptist first appeared during the 1470s. The lamb is a symbol of Jesus's later sacrifice.
Bibliographic references
  • Butlin, Martin. William Blake., London : Tate Gallery, 1978 no.138
  • 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
  • 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
  • Exhibition of the works of William Blake, London : Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1876 149
  • William Blake in the art of his time, Santa Barbara, California : The Galleries, 1976 no.98
  • Catalogue of loan collection of pictures by French and British artists of the 18th century, Glasgow : The Museum, 1902 117
  • A catalogue of frescoes, prints, & drawings by William Blake, London : Carfax & Co., Ltd., 1906 no.12
  • Keynes, Geoffrey, The Tempera Paintings of William Blake : a critical catalogue, London : Arts Council of Great Britain, 1951 19
  • Russell, Archibald G.B., Catalogue : Blake centenary exhibition, London : Privately printed for the Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1927 no. 18
  • Russell, Archibald George Blomefield. Catalogue of loan exhibition of works by William Blake, October to December, 1913. London : H.M. Stationery Off., 1913. no. 23
  • Kauffmann, C.M., The Bible in British Art : 10th to 20th Centuries. London : Victoria and Albert Museum, 1977 no. 76
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
P.26-1953

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdMay 13, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O80679/our-lady-with-the-infant-tempera-painting-blake-william/
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest