God Writing upon the Tables of the Covenant
About this artwork
Flames and trumpeting angels frame the statuesque figure of God who is seen from behind. Towering over the kneeling Moses, God raises his arms and prepares to inscribe the Ten Commandments on the stone tablets before him. The subject was inspired by an episode in the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy. This is one of eighty watercolours of Biblical subjects Blake produced between 1800 and 1809. They were made for Thomas Butts, a military clerk, who shared his philosophies and whose son Blake taught to engrave.
Updated before 2020
-
artist:William Blake (1757 - 1827) English
-
title:God Writing upon the Tables of the Covenant
-
date created:About 1805
-
materials:Pen and ink and watercolour over pencil on paper
-
measurements:41.90 x 34.20 cm
-
object type:
-
credit line:William Finlay Watson Bequest 1881
-
accession number:D 2281
-
gallery:
-
depicted:
-
subject:
-
glossary:
William Blake
William Blake
Blake's vivid paintings and prints illustrate his originality as an artist, poet and mystic philosopher. His early apprenticeship with the engraver James Basire introduced him to a wide range of art works through prints. Blake was fascinated by Michelangelo's figures and also by medieval Gothic art...