Description
William Blake 'As if an angel dropped down from the clouds', illustration to 'Henry IV.jpg
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English:
William Blake 'As if an angel dropped down from the clouds', illustration to 'Henry IV
drawing / bookObject typedrawing term detailsbook term details Museum number1954,1113.1.37
Description'As if an angel dropped down from the clouds', illustration to 'Henry IV, Part I' IV, i,
108-9, formerly in an extra-illustrated second folio edition of Shakespeare (1632);
a nude girl reclining on clouds with a book, a male angel and Pegasus below,
sun rays behind. 1809 Pen and grey ink, and watercolour
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Producer nameDrawn by: William Blake biography School/styleBritish Date1809
Materialspaper Techniquedrawn term details DimensionsHeight: 308 millimetresWidth: 192 millimetres Inscriptions
Inscription Content
Inscribed and dated: "W Blake 1809" and "5" Curator's comments Blake illustrations,
1954-11-13-1 (11,21,22,26,27,37), removed from an extra-illustrated second folio
edition of Shakespeare (1632) (200.b.12). This illustration was formerly bound
in at the end of the book, the play having already been illustrated by Robert
Ker Porter in 1801. See Curator's Comment to 1954-11-13-1(1).
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BibliographyButlin 547(6) bibliographic details LocationBritish Roy PIV
Exhibition history1990 Sep-Nov, Tokyo, National Museum of Western Art, William Blake
1992 June-Nov, Essen, Villa Hugel, London 1800-1838
2000/1 Nov-Feb, London, Tate Britain, William Blake 2003 Feb-June, Ferrara,
Pal dei Diamanti, Shakespeare in Art 2003 July-Oct, London, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Shakespeare in Art
2009 April-Oct, London, Tate Britain, William Blake 1809 exhibition
'As if an angel dropped down from the clouds', illustration to 'Henry IV, Part I' IV, i, 108-9,
formerly in an extra-illustrated second folio edition of Shakespeare (1632);
a nude girl reclining on clouds with a book, a male angel and Pegasus below, sun
rays behind. 1809 Pen and grey ink, and watercolour Large image More views (2)
'As if an angel dropped down from the clouds', illustration to 'Henry IV,
Part I' IV, i, 108-9, formerly in an extra-illustrated second folio edition of Shakespeare (1632);
a nude girl reclining on clouds with a book, a male angel and Pegasus below, sun rays behind.
1809 Pen and grey ink, and watercolour
William Blake, Fiery Pegasus (1809)
Pen, ink and watercolor, size approximately 9 x 6.5 inches, British Museum, London.
The inspiration for the picture comes from The First Part of Henry IV, Act IV,
Scene i, where Sir Richard Vernon at the Battle of Shrewsbury comments on the
sudden transformation of Prince Hal into a soldier who "vaulted with such ease
into his seat / As if an angel dropp'd down from the clouds/ To turn and wind a
fiery Pegasus/ And witch the world with noble horsemanship."
Blake entitled the picture "A spirit vaulting from a cloud to turn and wind a
fiery Pegasus"; to this title he adds a gloss which W. M. Merchant suggests typically
"weds the Shakespearean theme to his own mythology": Blake says that in his illustration
- "The Horse of Intellect is leaping from the cliffs of Memory: it is a barren Rock:
- it is also called the Barren Waste of Locke and Newton."
Here, Merchant comments, the barren reason that Blake
rejects is supplanted by creativity and spontaneity (Apollo 320).
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