164. Christ appearing to the Apostles after the Resurrection. [Mr. A very fine little picture; the colour, though not deep, well sustained. The figure of Christ is one of the best produced by Blake-majesty and graciousness deepened into pathos. Seven figures are in adoration before him-all probably Apostles, though one especially might be taken for a woman. 165. Christ overcoming the Incredulity of St. Thomas. [Capt. Butts.] Tempera. Great in the expression of speechless, unspeakable adoration in the other ten Apostles, earth-bowed. 166. The Ascension. [Capt. Butts.] Christ floats upward from the view of the eleven Apostles; His back turned, His arms extended. The sense of a perfectly accomplished mission is well conveyed. Two angels float downwards to the Apostles. The Conversion of St. Paul. [From Mr. Butts.] 168. *Felix and Drusilla-'Felix trembled.' [Mr. Strange, from Mr. Butts.] 169. The Felix and Drusilla, awe-struck, with upraised hands, are very fine; she seeming to bow down in soul, with womanly faith; very bright and tender. Paul, an energetic figure, with handsome straight-featured countenance, points right upward with his chained arms. Behind him are the gaoler and four soldiers, all impressed, and forming a fine group. The colour tolerably high in tint, but washy. St. Paul shaking off the Viper. [Mr. Bohn, from Mr. Butts.] The group is not a noticeable one for Blake; but there is a fine indication of sea in the background. 170. The same. [Capt. Butts.] Somewhat better than the preceding. The primitive astonishment of the islanders is well expressed; the viper is variegated with deep rich tints. 171. The Seven Golden Candlesticks. [From Mr. Butts.] 172. 173. * 'And the angel which I saw lifted up his hand to heaven.' [Mrs. de Putron, from Mr. Butts.] Described in the Sale-catalogue as 'very fine.' 'The Devil is come down.' [From Mr. Butts.] Described in the Sale-catalogue as a fine characteristic example of Blake's vigour and talent. 174. He cast him into the bottomless pit.' [Mr. Fuller, from Mr. Butts.] Described in the Sale-catalogue as 'very powerful and characteristic.' 175. Scene from the Apocalyptic Vision. [Mr. Fuller, from Mr. Butts.] Described in the Sale-catalogue as ' of grand conception, and highly characteristic.' 176. 'And power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.' [Mr. Fuller, from Mr. Butts.] Described in the Sale-catalogue as equally characteristic.' 177. The number of the Beast is 666.' [Mr. Fuller, from Mr. Butts.] Described in the Sale-catalogue as of the same characteristic merit.' 178. Eve. Pen-drawing coloured. Lying in a trance: the serpent crawling over her body and licking her face. Fine. 179. Satan exulting over Eve. [Mr. Strange, from Mr. Butts.] Tempera. Eve, a beautiful, gorgeous woman, lies prone in front, close involved in the folds of the serpent. Satan, with shield and spear, swoops over her, a solid mass of tongued flame behind him. Very fine. 180. *The Devil Rebuked. Burial of Moses. [Mr. Strange, from Mr. Butts.] Water-colour, with pen outline. The corpse of Moses, as ancient-looking as Chronos, and the mere shell of the inspired legislator, is exceedingly fine. It lies in a lax curve within the windingsheet, which four angels are lowering into the earth. Michael is rebuking Satan in the sky; the devil being of the athletic anatomical class, less Blakeian than usual. The colour is not carried far, but complete enough in effect. 181. Thou wast perfect till iniquity was found in thee.'-Ezek. xxviii. 15. [Capt. Butts.] A gorgeous six-winged cherub, in a blue day-sky, starlit. He holds an orb and sceptre, and is accompanied by a number of small, fairy-like angels. Bright in colour and extremely grand: the wings nobly managed. 182. The Holy Family. [Mr. Bohn, from Mr. Butts.] 183. Elizabeth, the Baptist, and angels, are present along with Jesus and His parents. The whole basis of the subject is too unrealistic to allow of its possessing much interest; the colour is pale. The same. [From Mr. Butts.] Tempera. The Virgin, seated, holds the Infant Christ on her knee. Joseph and Anna sit beside her; the Infant Baptist, with a lamb, lies on the ground before them. On each side is an angel, hands clasped, head bowed; another behind, with outstretched wings. Very pure in feeling, religious, and poetic. 184. The Virgin hushing the young Baptist, who approaches the sleeping Infant Christ. [Mr. Palgrave, from Mr. Butts.] Tempera. The Baptist holds a butterfly: his face glows with eagerness to show his prize. Both he and the Infant Christ are naked. Mary has a very winning and attractive air, nicely balanced between the virginal and maternal characters. A red curtain, not harmonious in colour, forms the chief background object. Altogether, the picture is an extremely pretty one. 185. *The Virgin and Child in Egypt. [Mr. Stirling, from Mr. Butts.] Tempera. Bust front face. The Pyramids appear in the background. Very careful and pleasing. 186. The Infant Christ riding a Lamb. [Mr. Stirling, from Mr. Butts.] Tempera. The Virgin, walking behind, holds Christ on the back of the lamb, which follows the young St. John, who is feeding it. A very sweet idea, expressed with refinement. 187. The Child Christ asleep upon a wooden Cross laid on the Ground. [Mr. Stirling, from Mr. Butts.] Tempera. The Virgin is standing by, in contemplation. Fine. 188. Similar subject. [Capt. Butts.] Tempera. The Virgin, with an expression of inspired foreboding, is beautiful. Joseph is also present, using a pair of compasses. 189. Similar subject. [Capt. Butts.] Tempera. A different and equally good composition, without Joseph. 190. The Infant Jesus saying His prayers-And the Child grew and waxed strong.' [Mr. Strange, from Mr. Butts.] Very radiant, and like a child's dream; the colour slight, but bright. Jesus kneels upon His bed to pray; angels are all round the head and foot of the bed, with Mary and Joseph behind, and two other angels floating above. 191. Christ in the Lap of Truth, and between his Earthly Parents. [Mr. The interesting and characteristic, though not salient, picture which was rather concealed than displayed at the International Exhibition. 192. The Humility of the Saviour. [Mr. Milnes, from Mr. Butts.] He is represented as a youth some thirteen years of age, holding a compass and a carpenter's square; a light plays round His head. Joseph, a handsome man of middle age, has no supernatural light, whereas the Virgin is surrounded by a vivid illumination. A dark sky is seen through the rafters of the shed. A moderate specimen. 193. The Covenant. [From Mr. Butts.] Described in the Sale-catalogue as 'very fine.' 194. The Wise and Foolish Virgins. [From Mr. Butts.] See No. 95. 195. The Assumption. [Mr. Fuller, from Mr. Butts.] Described in the Sale-catalogue as an elaborate and exquisitely finished work in Blake's finest manner. 196. Mercy and Truth are met together; Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other.' [Mr. Dilke, from Mr. Butts.] 197. : The personified Virtues are represented in two figures (not four). Jesus (it would appear) is the representative of Mercy and Righteousness Truth and Peace are embodied in a beardless youth. The two are seated, and turn round to kiss and embrace, their arms meeting over a Greek cross. Above, at the summit of some steps, is an aged man with a book, no doubt representing the Deity; He is surrounded by a glory of angels. An interesting work, yellow being the predominant tint. The King of the Jews.' [Capt. Butts.] A symbolic figure of Christ, standing nearly unrobed, with the reed and the crown of thorns. There are great pathos and majesty in the countenance; though the executive treatment, high and crude in colour, is not satisfactory. 198. The Saviour in the Heavens, with floating Figures of Children and Angels. [Capt. Butts.] Tempera. May be assumed to represent Christ as the centre and hope of humanity—an anticipation of the Christus Consolator' popularized by Scheffer or perhaps (as expressed by Blake, p. 214, Vol. I.) Eternal Creation flowing from the Divine Humanity in Jesus." Curious. 199. *An Allegory of the Spiritual Condition of Man. [Capt. Butts.] Tempera. 200. 201. The conception of the subject seems to approach to that of a Last Judgment, though not recognisable distinctly as such. Faith, Hope, and Charity, Adam and Eve, Satan, can be traced among the figures. This is one of Blake's largest works, some 5 feet by 4 feet in dimensions; interesting, and fine in several of the figures, which stand nearly isolated one from the other here and there throughout the picture. Christ the Mediator. [Mr. Strange, from Mr. Butts.] Tempera. He is interceding with the Father, represented as an aged man seated in kingly state, on behalf of a youthful woman, who is surrounded by angels. Somewhat wanting in purity of colour. *A Head of Christ in Glory. [Mr. Strange, from Mr. Butts.] Tempera. Life-sized a curious effort. Much patience has been expended upon the dress, which is executed all over in a ribbed texture. 202. The Fall of the Damned. 203. 204. * Judgment. Colour-printed. Presumed to be a 'Last Judgment;' or, possibly, the 'Judgment of Paris,' No. 89 (?). *The Last Judgment. Tempera. 7 feet by 5 feet in dimensions, and estimated to contain 1000 figures. A later work than the one belonging to Lord Leconfield, No. 74. See p. 358. Vol. I. D.-POETIC AND MISCELLANEOUS. 205. EIGHT DESIGNS from 'Comus.' [Mr. Strange, from Mr. Butts.] A delicate, quiet series, of small size, in pale colour, and a simple, chaste, not elaborate style of form and execution. The backgrounds are tender and suggestive. (a) Comus with his Revellers. Starlight. Comus holds the enchanting cup: his companion revellers have the heads of a pig, a dog, a bull, and (apparently) a parrot. The lady is reclined upon a bank in front. (b) Comus, disguised as a Rustic, addressing the Lady in the Wood. The lady, slim and erect in form, is a charming figure: the Guardian Spirit hovers near her. The wood is represented with upright sturdy trunks, unbroken by lower leafage. (c) The Brothers, as described by Comus, plucking Grapes. A fine background of thick trees, and a sky indicative of approaching night, with a yoke of oxen, and the Guardian Spirit in a lozenge-shaped glory. (d) The two Brothers passing the Night in the Wood. Each holds his drawn sword, and is stationed between two trees; betwixt them stands the Guardian Spirit, under the aspect of a shepherd. The moon, in her dragon-drawn car, is above. Fine in simple ideal feeling. (e) Comus, with the Lady spell-bound in the Chair. The lady's enchanted motionlessness is well expressed. Several of the monstrous revellers are at table-a cat, an elephant, a lion, a pig, a long-billed bird. A serpent is flying about; a grotesque attendant, halfway between a Chinaman and an ape, stands near the lady. Quaint and sprightly in expression. (f) The Brothers driving out Comus. Comus decamps, with the smile still on his lips; flames burst forth at his feet; phantom heads foom above. The action of the brothers is lithe and impulsive. (9) Sabrina disenchanting the Lady. A rainbow arches over the nymph; the rayed light is rising through a gap in the hills. (h) The Lady restored to her Parents. A very graceful figure of the lady. The Guardian Spirit resumes his angelic shape, and hovers off; the brothers gaze upon him. A sweet effect of the sun rising over the hills, with trees close to the figures. 206. TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS to the 'Allegro' and 'Penseroso.' [Mr. Milnes, from Mr. Butts.] A very pretty and interesting series, of small dimensions, in which Blake's turn for personifying and idealizing comes out as strong as in the Prophetic Books,' but divested of terror, and, of course, following the main lines traced by the poet. Each design is accompanied by a slip of Blake's handwriting, giving the extract from the poem and his own analysis of the design: the latter will be subjoined here in inverted commas. The colour generally is very Blakeianbright, light, and many-tinted: it may be called 'variegated' colour, like that of a pale tulip. (a) From the Allegro':-Mirth and her Companions-'Jest and Youth ful Jollity,' &c. &c. "These personifications are all brought together in the first design, surrounding the principal figure, which is Mirth herself.' She is much larger than the other figures. Fair. This has been engraved by Blake. (b) The Lark startling Night. tower The lark is an angel on the wing. "Dull Night" starts from "his watchon a cloud. The Dawn, with her dappled horses, arises above the Earth. The Earth beneath awakes at the lark's voice.' Very pleasing in the effect of the retreating night-sky, with some big scattered stars. (c) 'Sometimes walking, not unseen,' &c. &c.-The Ploughman, Milkmaid, Mower, Shepherd under Hawthorn. "The "great sun" is represented clothed in flames, surrounded by the clouds in their "liveries," in their various offices at the eastern gate. Beneath, in small figures, Milton "walking by elms on hillocks green;" the ploughman, the milkmaid, the mower whetting his scythe, and the shepherd and his lass "under a hawthorn in the dale." The crimson-tipped flames round Phoebus in the sun-disc gather like heavy locks of hair. The lower section of the design forms a very small and pretty landscape-composition. (d) The Village Holiday— 6 Sometimes, with secure delight, 'In this design is introduced "Mountains on whose barren breast The labouring clouds do often rest." Mountains, clouds, rivers, trees, appear humanized on the "sunshine holiday." The church steeple, with its merry bells. The clouds arise from the bosoms of mountains, while two angels sound their trumpets in the heavens, to announce the "sunshine holiday. The lower part of the design, with a dance round the maypole and a background of trees, is very sweet in feeling. Throughout there is much pretty Springlike colour. (e) The Fireside Stories of Mab, Robin Goodfellow, &c. "The Goblin, "crop-full, flings out of doors" from his laborious task, dropping his flail and creambowl, yawning and stretching; vanishes into the sky, in which is seen Queen Mab, eating "the junkets." The sports of the fairies are seen through the cottage, where "she" lies in bed, pinched and pulled by fairies, as they dance on the bed, the ceiling, and the floor; and a ghost pulls the bedclothes at her feet. "He" is seen following the "friar's lantern towards the convent.' The Goblin is represented as a giant; his diaphanous body takes the dusky tinges of the dawn-twilight sky. |