Thomas Butts, Jr.

British, active c. 1806 - 1808

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A long, rectangular dining table is surrounded by thirteen people in this horizontal painting. The skin of all the people, some of their clothing, and the tabletop are painted golden yellow. Touches of aquamarine blue, salmon pink, and rust red appear in some clothing, and the scene is set against a nearly black background. Across from us at the center of the table, a radiating, gold starburst surrounds the head and shoulders of a man, Jesus, with shoulder-length blond hair and beard. He looks at or toward us with dark eyes as he holds his hands up, palms facing out, at his chest. He wears a champagne-white robe and reclines with his legs extended to our left as he rests his opposite elbow on what could be a cushion or rolled-up blanket. To our right, a second person mirrors Jesus’s reclining position but with wrists crossed over the chest and turning to look toward Jesus. That person wears a long teal-blue garment and has smooth cheeks and long blond hair. Another bearded man to our left, near the back corner of the table, leans away from Jesus with hands held up as if in prayer. Three people lounge or sit on each of the short sides of the table to our left and right, and four recline on the side closest to us. Some have beards and others are cleanshaven, and some have short hair while others have long locks. Most of them look toward Jesus while two bend low to the table in prayer. One man, in the lower right, wears brick red and turns his back on the table as he counts or touches coins in a sack. The long table is set with goblets and plates of food. The artist signed the work with his initials in the lower left corner: “WB inv.”
William Blake, The Last Supper, 1799, tempera on canvas, Rosenwald Collection, 1954.13.1

The Last Supper

William Blake · 1799 · tempera on canvas ·  Accession ID  1954.13.1

An old man with a long, white beard and flowing, white hair sits surrounded by three young women in a gold-toned room in this horizontal painting. The people all have dark dots for eyes and touches of pink on the cheeks of their otherwise parchment-white skin. At the center of the composition, the man holds his arms out straight to his sides, lifted slightly above shoulder level, with his index fingers pointing and his middle fingers touching his thumbs to make a ring with each hand. He looks down to our right under bushy, furrowed brows, and his beard falls to his lap. His cream-white robe falls to the floor over his legs, but the toes of one foot peek out from under the hem. Two young women with blond hair sit to either side of him, leaning against his legs and sides. The woman to our left wears a harvest-yellow, long-sleeved gown, and she holds her hands pressed to her upper chest. The woman to our right wears a muted, rose-pink gown. The third woman, in front of the man, sits with her back to us, hands palm-down on the floor to either side of her, and her face resting on the man’s knees. Her blond hair is partially held in a net at the base of her skull, and her slate-blue gown pools around her. The edges of a ruby-red seat curl to either side of the women flanking the man. On the upper half of the wall opposite us, a roundel is flanked by a square panel to each side. We can barely make out the forms of some people in the monochromatic, caramel-brown sections. The floor is loosely patterned with muted red, black, royal blue, and butter yellow. Upon closer inspection, we find that the surface of the painting is cracked throughout.
William Blake, Job and His Daughters, 1799/1800, pen and tempera on canvas, Rosenwald Collection, 1943.11.11

Job and His Daughters

William Blake · 1799/1800 · pen and tempera on canvas ·  Accession ID  1943.11.11

William Blake, The Death of Saint Joseph, 1803, watercolor, graphite, and charcoal on wove paper, Gift of Louisa C. Duemling, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, 1991.25.1

The Death of Saint Joseph

William Blake · 1803 · watercolor, graphite, and charcoal on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1991.25.1