William Blake Elohim creating Adam 1795

William Blake ELOHIM CREATING ADAM 1795 This must be the bleakest of all visions of the creation of mankind. The huge wings of Elohim (Blake’s name for the God of the Old Testament) combined with his rippling drapery and hair blowing free, emphasise his central attribute: his unfettered ability to move. Yet this God uses his power specifically to deny movement to his creation, pinning Adam to the curve of the earth, forcing his hand and his head down, preventing his spirit from soaring free. Blake shows us the act of creation as an act of oppression, flanked by ancient symbols of evil: the serpent of materialism entwines the newly created man in his coils, and a ghostly bat-wing parody of a rainbow shines against the dark sky. But there is hope. There will one day be a second, better creation. Adam’s body, with its outstretched arms, is shown as though ready for crucifixion. Adam will be replaced by Jesus, and for Blake that means another view of God, this time not as oppressor but as pure love, and so another, blessed, vision of the relationship between God and man. To achieve his rich visual effects, Blake evolved an original and highly elaborate system of colour printing, which required extensive reworking by hand – a new complex medium for an equally new and complex theology.

William Blake NEBUCHADNEZZAR 1795 In the Old Testament book of Daniel, as punishment for his overreaching power, Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylonia, was ‘driven out by men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with dew from heaven, till his hair was grown like eagle’s feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.’ He was condemned to live the life of a beast, until he acknowledged God’s universal dominion. The extraordinary body of Nebuchadnezzar, which gives the frightening impression that it has been flayed, may well derive from Blake’s experience as an art student at the Royal Academy, where he made life drawings from the corpses of hanged criminals. But it is especially Nebuchadnezzar’s crazed expression that grips us – a face contorted by a terror at what he has become.

William Blake THE DANCE OF ALBION c.1795 This pose strikes us as one of exultation and liberation. Blake, however, was never explicit about Albion’s meaning. Some see in him an idealised portrayal of the artist himself, while others suggest he stands for England, rising again after the Industrial Revolution. Another version of the engraving suggests more. It is inscribed, ‘Albion rose from where he labour’d at the Mill with Slaves:/Giving himself for the Nations he danc’d the dance of Eternal Death.’ Albion displays close parallels with the Crucifixion, suggesting a life beyond death. And surrounded by a mystical light, he seems to convey the ecstasy of true spiritual insight.