William Blake

Elena Lia

William Blake

William Blake was born in London in 1757 from a humble family. he was an engraver and painter and became the creator of a new kind of art which emphasized imagination. Blake was a political freethinker, a supporter of French Revolution and a radical. He belived that industrial development had a bad effect on man's suol. Blake had a strong sense of religion and and for him the Bible offered a complete vision of the world and it's history. Blake had a notebook that originally belonged to Blake's brother, Robert, who died in 1787, and he cared for Robert during the final weeks of his life. So the notebook takes on a profound emotional meaning and this can explain the reason for this continuous and obsessive activity of transcription and annotation of the most disparate topics. He spent much of his life in poverty, but still managed to produce works of great artistic and cultural value. He died in 1827.

William Blake wrote "Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience" before the French Revolution, overwhelmed by liberal ideas. The narrator is a shepherd who, inspired by a child in a cloud, pipes his songs to celebrate the divine. The main theme is childhood, a symbol of innocence, happiness and liberty. The language is simple and musical. "Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience was written during the period of the Terror. Here the themes of the previous work are questioned, there is a complex visual world and a pessimistic view of life. "Experience" represents adulthood, so the two works can be considered one as the completion of the other, providing points of view on reality.

Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience

But the most likely is that in this picture, Blake represented Urizen, creator of the world, which Blake himself invented, was the figment of his mythological imagination.

The main character of this image is probably God, and he is depicted at the moment of creation, he does not establish order, but limits the freedom and limits of imagination.The artist depicted him against the background of the Sun, he is concentrated and his facial features show anger.

The Ancient of Days

In this work we find expressly "told" the painter's belief that he saw the spirit prevail over the material world.

In an atmosphere where dreams seem to have the upper hand we find a young woman apparently lifeless, lying down. Above the inert girl we find two horses running supported by dark clouds full of rain, leading the horses are two women, one of whom looks down while holding a newborn baby in her hands with extreme delicacy.

Pity

The man represented in the depiction is Isaac Newton, the famous English physicist and mathematician; he is portrayed sitting on a rock that extends from the left side of the painting, covered with algae and other residues that recall the marine environment. Newton is naked, folded in on himself ideally completing the shape of the boulder that supports him; his gaze is directed downwards, on drawings and diagrams that he is analyzing with a compass.

Newton

Blake drew his inspiration for this scene from the book of Genesis in the Old Testament and from John Milton's epic poem 'Paradise Lost'.

Eve Tempted by the Serpent