The drawing Job and His Daughters by William Blake, created in 1821, is a significant example of the artist's late-career engagement with biblical narrative and one of his major illustrative cycles. Executed masterfully in graphite on laid paper, this work is formally classified as a drawing, yet it demonstrates the meticulous linear precision characteristic of Blake’s finest graphic techniques.
Blake created this piece during a remarkably prolific phase that followed his pivotal commission to illustrate the Book of Job. Although the drawing likely precedes the final set of famous copperplate engravings (completed in 1826), it shares the intense focus on composition and spiritual geometry that defines the series. As a key figure in the British Romantic movement, Blake consistently rejected academic classicism in favor of a highly personal, symbolic approach to Scripture. The period encompassing 1801 to 1825 saw Blake produce some of his most complex graphic works, seeking visual equivalents for abstract spiritual concepts.
The subject matter, drawn from the end of the Book of Job, focuses on the moment of Job's restoration, where he is reunited with his family and granted prosperity. The final chapters emphasize his three beautiful daughters, who were granted equal inheritance rights alongside their brothers. Blake typically utilized this scene to depict harmony, instruction, and divine grace after immense suffering.
The use of the graphite medium emphasizes the linearity and expressive contour drawing that forms the foundation of Blake’s distinct style, focusing the viewer’s attention sharply on the figures' expressive postures and the symbolic arrangement of the composition. This historically important drawing resides in the esteemed collection of the National Gallery of Art. Due to the age of the original work and its historical significance, many related illustrations and prints from the complete series have entered the public domain, ensuring the widespread accessibility of Blake's vision.
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