William Blake: 7 works

'During the early part of his career, William Blake experimented with a number of techniques until he found a form of expression uniquely his own. The breakthrough came when he worked on one of his brother Robert's designs after his death in 1787.'

'Blake's images reflected his own very personal visions, which he insisted were "not a cloudy vapour or a nothing; they are organized and minutely articulated beyond all that the mortal and perishing nature can produce."'

'The series of twenty-one watercolor illustrations for the Book of Job are one of Blake's supreme achievements.'

'Artist and astrologer John Varley encouraged Blake to sketch portraits of the figures who populated his visions, called 'visionary heads'.'

'Blake's personal theology led him not only to illustrate but to comment upon, and even criticize, Dante's Catholic interpretation of salvation, stating that 'Dante saw Devils where I see none -- I see only good'.'

'William Blake's illustrations to Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy have been described as the 'glorious culmination' of his art.'

'Commissioned by his last patron, John Linnell, Blake produced 102 drawings illustrating the Divine Comedy between 1824 and his death in 1827.'