The Ghost of Samuel Appearing to Saul

c. 1800

William Blake

Associated Names
William Blake

Artist, British, 1757 - 1827

This is a painting featuring a group of people. The central person is a man wearing a long robe with long hair and a beard that goes down to his thighs. His skin, hair, and clothes are almost completely white, and his index fingers on both hands are pointing downwards. Surrounding this person on either side are two other people in dramatic poses. On the left, a kneeling person dressed in red reaches upwards with open hands. To the right, another huddled person wearing blue has one arm over their face and their other arm extending backwards; their long orange hair stands on end around their head, and their face is in an expression of shock and fear. Behind the person on the left side are two other faces that appear indistinct and are without visible bodies. These two faces look towards the central person, and their mouths are open. The people stand or kneel on a gray surface, and the background is a blend of black, gray, and dark blue,

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pen and ink with watercolor over graphite

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    Overall: 32 x 34.4 cm (12 5/8 x 13 9/16 in.)
    support: 55.6 x 44.4 cm (21 7/8 x 17 1/2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.8996

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Butlin 1981, no. 458

  • Series Title

    Bible for Thomas Butts

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

LJR (Lugt Supp.1760b)

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1957

  • The Art of William Blake, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1957, no. 12.

1965

  • William Blake, Andrew Dickson White Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1965, no. 23.

1978

  • Master Drawings from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art and Promised Gifts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978, pp. 90-91.

  • William Blake, Tate Gallery, London, 1978, no. 169, repro.

1987

  • English Drawings and Watercolors, 1630-1850, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1987-1988, no cat.

1997

  • Six Centuries/Six Artists, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1997.

2002

  • La peinture comme crime, Museé du Louvre, Paris, 2001-2002, 130-133, 345 n. 81, 359, no.84.

Bibliography

1975

  • Fine 1975 IV.A.10.

1978

  • Butlin, Martin. William Blake. Exh. cat. Tate Gallery, London, 1978: 169.

1981

  • Butlin, Martin. The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981.

1982

  • Bindman, David. William Blake: His Art and Times. Exh. cat. Yale Center for British Art, New Haven; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. London, 1982: 77.

Inscriptions

lower right: WB inv; lower right on mount: 1st.Samuel 28th.ch:12th to 21; lower right on mount: (title and text in copperplate hand)

Wikidata ID

Q64636346

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