Death of the Strong Wicked Man, from "The Grave," a Poem by Robert Blair

Death of the Strong Wicked Man, from "The Grave," a Poem by Robert Blair is a powerful engraving executed by William Blake in 1808. This specific work was commissioned as one of twelve illustrations for a planned 1808 edition of Robert Blair's influential eighteenth-century meditative poem, The Grave. Although Blake completed the preparatory drawings, the final plates were largely engraved by professional printmaker Louis Schiavonetti, based on Blake's unique designs, as the publisher feared Blake's idiosyncratic engraving style would impede commercial success. This detailed print, nonetheless, demonstrates Blake’s dramatic vision of mortality and exemplifies the Romantic movement's profound engagement with the spiritual sublime and the moral consequences of human actions.

The scene captures the tragic and sudden climax of a life characterized by vice. At the center lies the corpulent body of the deceased “wicked man,” rendered as a powerful male nude slumped lifelessly on the ground, his head resting against a classical column. This figure of death is sharply contrasted by the surrounding agony: a distraught woman collapses in sorrow beside him, while other female figures nearby shield their faces in profound expressions of sadness and despair. Blake utilizes the composition to emphasize the weight of eternal judgment, incorporating shadowy celestial beings who mourn the wasted potential of the soul. The work contrasts the stark physicality of death with the enduring emotional anguish of those left behind.

This particular impression is housed in the permanent collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and represents a key achievement in Blake’s illustrative career, despite the complex history surrounding its execution. The enduring popularity of Blair’s poem ensured a wide dissemination of these haunting images, cementing them as some of the most recognized prints associated with the artist. Today, high-resolution scans and subsequent prints of Blake’s original designs are frequently available in the public domain, allowing scholars and enthusiasts worldwide to study the theological and aesthetic intensity of the composition Death of the Strong Wicked Man.