William Blake as Job the Artist and the Biblical Illustrations in 18-19th Century London

• In Event: Artistic, Literary, and Philosophical Consequences of the Book of Job

Abstract

The English poet-painter William Blake (1757-1827) has long been considered an eccentric figure in art, literature and religion. His works convey ambiguous yet radical thoughts. The Illustrations of the Book of Job (1826) were 22 plates with words and images, which Blake created in the last years of his life. Along with some 100 unfinished watercolours for Dante’s DIVINE COMEDY, Job and Dante were Blake’s last thoughts on life and death in his later life.

Apart from Blake’s later patron, John Linnell’s opinions, it is worth considering why Blake chose Job as a biblical theme to illustrate and perhaps cast himself as the old Jewish Job converted to the new Christianity. What did the Hebrew words Blake put in the illustrations mean? Abraham Samuel Shiff in ‘Blake’s Hebrew Calligraphy’ (2012) discusses the errors Blake made in the Hebrew words he chose, but what are the reasons and meanings? What do Job, Satan and Elihu represent in Blake’s symbolism? Using the Job illustrations and other works, this paper will trace Blake’s idea of life and suffering in his words and images.

Author

• Mei-Ying Sung, FoGuang University