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Source Description
Although he rejected institutionalized religion, Blake was intensely spiritual, and much of his art was inspired by a highly personal reading of the Bible or by literature based upon it, such as John Milton’s <em>Paradise Lost </em>(1667). The Virgin Mary is centered in this highly stylized composition. Upon her lap she clasps the infant Christ whose outstretched arms foreshadow the Crucifixion. The Mother and Child are flanked by Saint Joseph on the left, and Saint Anne (the Virgin’s mother), on the right. Below, Saint John the Baptist, who foretold Christ’s death and resurrection, plays with a lamb.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
127561
label
The Holy Family (Christ in the Lap of Truth)
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
127561
contentType
drawing
title
The Holy Family (Christ in the Lap of Truth)
description
Although he rejected institutionalized religion, Blake was intensely spiritual, and much of his art was inspired by a highly personal reading of the Bible or by literature based upon it, such as John Milton’s <em>Paradise Lost </em>(1667). The Virgin Mary is centered in this highly stylized composition. Upon her lap she clasps the infant Christ whose outstretched arms foreshadow the Crucifixion. The Mother and Child are flanked by Saint Joseph on the left, and Saint Anne (the Virgin’s mother), on the right. Below, Saint John the Baptist, who foretold Christ’s death and resurrection, plays with a lamb.
date
c. 1805
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79907658
creators
1257
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 37.9 x 32.5 cm (14 15/16 x 12 13/16 in.)
cul
England, London, 18th century
accession
1950.239
Source extras
tec
black, gray, and brown ink applied with pen and point of brush; gray, pink, yellow, and green wash
tombstone
The Holy Family (Christ in the Lap of Truth), c. 1805. William Blake (British, 1757–1827). Black, gray, and brown ink applied with pen and point of brush; gray, pink, yellow, and green wash; sheet: 37.9 x 32.5 cm (14 15/16 x 12 13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1950.239
collection
DR - British
inscriptions
inscription
signed, lower right, in black ink: [artist's monogram:8 inv / wb]
inscription
verso, upper center, in graphite: G [collector's mark? (not in Lugt)]
inscription
across bottom, in graphite: no. 9 [S?]ingle
inscription
across bottom, in graphite: The Holy Family / Jesus-Mary-Joseph-Elizabeth + St. John
inscription
lower center, in graphite: 50/ [7?]
didYouKnow
This drawing was first owned by Thomas Butts, an English civil servant who became William Blake's most important patron and supporter for about two decades.
citations
citation
Gilchrist, Alexander and William Michael Rossetti. <em>Life of William Blake: "Pictor Ignotus," with Selections from His Poems and Other Writings</em>. London: R. Clay, Son, and Taylor, 1863.
page_number
Mentioned: vol. 2, p. 230, no. 182
citation
<em>Exhibition of the Works of William Blake</em>. Exh. Cat. London: Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1876.
page_number
Mentioned: no. 144
citation
Gilchrist, Alexander and William Michael Rossetti. <em>Life of William Blake with Seleions from His Poems and Other Writings</em>. London: Macmillan, 1880.
page_number
Mentioned: vol. 2, p. 243, no. 207 or 209
citation
Richter, Helene. <em>William Blake</em>. Strassburg: J.H. Ed. Heitz, 1906.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 173; Reproduced: pl. V
citation
<em>Exhibition of Works by William Blake</em>. Exh. Cat. London: Carfax and Co., Ltd., 1906.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 19, no. 69
citation
de Selincourt, Basil. <em>William Blake</em>. London: Duckworth, 1909.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 200-202; Reproduced: between pp. 200 and 201
citation
<em>The Century of Art Exhibition of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers</em>. Exh. Cat. London: Grafton Galleries, 1911.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 35, no. 125
citation
Russell, Archibald. "The Graham Robertson Collection." <em>Burlington Magazine</em> 37, no. 208 (July 1920): 27-29, 32-35, 39.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 34
citation
Russell, Archibald. <em>William Blake (1757-1827)</em>. Exh. Cat. London: Tate Gallery, 1947.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 37, no. 76
citation
<em>77th Annual Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings</em>. Exh. Cat. London: Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., 1950.
page_number
Mentioned: no. 74
citation
Preston, Kerrison. <em>The Blake Collection of W. Graham Robertson</em>. London: Faber and Faber, 1952.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 144-45
citation
Keynes, Sir Geoffrey. <em>William Blake's Illustrations to the Bible. </em>London: Trianon, 1957.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 30-31, no. 104; Reproduced: pl. 104
citation
<em>The Art of William Blake</em>. Exh. Cat. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1957.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 19, no. 26
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 608
citation
Hawley, Henry. <em>Neo-Classicism: Style and Motif</em>. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1964.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 117, no. 122
citation
Hoover, Suzanne. "Pictures at the Exhibition." <em>Blake Newsletter</em> 21 (1973): 6-13.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 8-9; Reproduced: fig. 3
citation
Mellor, Anne Kostelanetz. <em>Blake's Human Form Divine</em>. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 332-35; Reproduced: pl. 87
citation
Butlin, Martin. <em>The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake</em>. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 351, no. 471, 484, under no. 671; Reproduced: pl. 556
citation
Heppner, Christopher. <em>Reading Blake's Designs</em>. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 194
citation
DeGrazia, Diane, and Carter E. Foster. <em>Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 7, 188-89, no. 77; Reproduced: p. 189
citation
Lemonedes, Heather. <em>British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 11, 54-55, 143, no. 16; Reproduced: p. 17 (detail), 55
catalogueRaisonne
Butlin 471
creditline
John L. Severance Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:34:05.850000
sourceId
127561
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - British
med
black, gray, and brown ink applied with pen and point of brush; gray, pink, yellow, and green wash
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
59cba8da5c01fd07