Pairs of angels holding the body of an old man in a shroud as an angel confronts a devil in the air above
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

At center, the body of a man with white hair and a long white beard is held in a shroud. A pair of winged angels in long white robes hold his head, and another pair hold his feet, as they bend forward, lowering his body into a dark grave. In the air above them, an angel in profile at right flies forward, his left hand raised, as he confronts a red skinned, bat-winged devil at left. The creature wears a pained expression and cowers back while bolts of lightning flash behind him.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.407
People
William Blake, British (London, England 1757 - 1827 London, England)
Title
The Devil Rebuked (The Burial of Moses)
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
c. 1805
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/297851

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Watercolor, black ink and graphite on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
42.4 x 31 cm (16 11/16 x 12 3/16 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.407
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT and London, England, 1981), no. 449, pl. 536
  • Chikashi Kitazaki and Mina Oya, ed., Between Reality and Dreams: Nineteenth Century British and French Art from the Winthrop Collection of the Fogg Art Museum, exh. cat., National Museum of Western Art (Ueno, 2002), cat. no. 19, repr. (color)

Exhibition History

  • Between Reality and Dreams: Nineteenth Century British and French Art from the Winthrop Collection of the Fogg Art Museum, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 09/14/2002 - 12/08/2002

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