Drawings

Portrait of William Blake, age Fifty

Image not available

Type: Drawings(Opens in new tab)
Date: n.d.
Accession number: 000.57A
Engraver: Luigi Schiavonetti(Opens in new tab) (Italian, 1765–1810)
After: Thomas Phillips(Opens in new tab) (British, 1770–1845)
Dimensions: 11 x 8 1/2 in. (27.9 x 21.6 cm.)
Medium: pencil and wash after?
Description: This portrait is basically the same as the oil painting by Thomas Phillips (National Portrait Gallery, London) and the engraving after it by Louis Schiavonetti, published in R. H. Cromek's 1808 edition of Robert Blair's The Grave with Blake's illustrations (see RB113093, RB263699, RB54049, and RB54048). There are several slight differences in pose and characterization between the painting and this drawing, and in the latter Blake holds a quill pen rather than a crayon. The watermark indicates that this drawing could not be part of the compositional process leading to the painting or the print. Baker 1946 accepts this portrait as Philips' own work in spite of the watermark. Keynes 1977 states "it is very unlikely that [this] copy was from" Phillips' hand, but suggests that it was probably "made during Blake's lifetime" after Schiavonetti's engraving.
Credit: The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Department: European Art
Find out more: View in the Art Museum catalog(Opens in new tab)

Label text

Watercolor version of the Phillips oil portrait, probably an early copy of the engraved version of 1808.

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