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A naked man steps forward with raised hands as a serpent slithers at his feet

Within a burning landscape, a naked man walks a step forward, looking up and raising his hands. His hair sticks up and out resembling tongues of flame and his skin is colored in pale red and blue blotches. A twisting snake glides up along the ground to him from behind, looking up at him from the right with wide open jaws. Giant pale gray stone arches are seen in the distance among rising flames and billowing smoke clouds above.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.434
People
William Blake, British (London, England 1757 - 1827 London, England)
Title
Donati Transformed into a Serpent; Francesco de'Cavalcanti Retransformed into a Man (from Dante's "Divine Comedy")
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Buoso Donati Transformed into a Serpent; Francesco de' Cavalcanti Retrans...
Series/Book Title: Dante, "The Divine Comedy"
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1824-1827
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/297459

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Watercolor, black ink, graphite, and black chalk on off-white antique laid paper
Dimensions
37 x 52.3 cm (14 9/16 x 20 9/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: lc: HELL Canto 25

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Grenville Lindall Winthrop, New York, bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1943

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.434
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Agnes Mongan, "The Fogg Art Museum's Collection of Drawings", Harvard Library Bulletin, Harvard University (Cambridge, 1958), vol. 3, no. 2, March, pp. 5-9, p. 202
  • Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT and London, England, 1981), no. 812 (54)
  • Anne Maheux, "An Analysis of the Watercolour Technique and Materials of William Blake" (thesis (certificate in conservation), Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, July 16, 1982), Unpublished, pp. 1-50 passim
  • William Blake, William Blake: paintings, watercolors, and drawings, exh. cat., Salander-O'Reilly Galleries (New York, NY, 1992), p. 50 under no. 16
  • David Bindman, William Blake: The Divine Comedy/Die göttliche Komödie/La divine comédie, Bibliothèque de l'Image (Paris, 2000), pl. 57 (color)
  • David Bindman, Stephen Hebron, and Michael O'Neill, Dante Rediscovered: From Blake to Rodin, exh. cat., The Wordsworth Trust (Grasmere, UK, 2007), p. 34, fig. 15

Exhibition History

  • Portrait, Prospect and Poetry: British Drawings from the Grenville L. Winthrop Bequest, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/11/1993 - 11/07/1993

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu