Songs of Innocence: Night (second plate)

Songs of Innocence: Night (second plate) by William Blake is a defining illuminated print, produced across the span of 1789 to 1825. This exceptional impression demonstrates the artist’s mastery of the relief etching technique, an innovative method Blake adapted from copperplate printing to create cohesive images combining text and illustration. The underlying graphic structure was first printed in a distinctive orange-brown ink, which served as the foundation for subsequent elaborate hand-coloring. Blake used watercolor and shell gold additions to infuse the nocturnal composition with both delicate illumination and spiritual depth.

The imagery explores the theme of Night and divine protection, utilizing symbolic human figures to represent the vulnerability and safety of innocence. The integration of gold highlights, achieved through shell gold application, emphasizes the spiritual intervention depicted in the poem, ensuring the visual drama resonates with the text. The extended production period (1789-1825) reflects Blake’s lifelong commitment to refining his printmaking process, resulting in highly individualized final products. Blake’s enduring influence stems from these powerful illuminated books, classified among the most significant prints of the Romantic period. This historically important example of Songs of Innocence: Night (second plate) resides in the distinguished collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Prints from Blake’s influential catalog, including those now frequently found in the public domain, remain crucial documents of early 19th-century British art and literature.