The Messengers tell Job of his Misfortunes

The Messengers tell Job of his Misfortunes is an engraving created by William Blake between 1825 and 1826, forming a critical component of his famous illustrative series dedicated to the Biblical Book of Job. This powerful print demonstrates Blake’s late career mastery of the etching and engraving technique, relying on stark contrasts and intricate line work to convey profound spiritual drama. The composition is highly stylized, characteristic of the artist’s intensely visionary approach to religious narratives.

The scene depicts the exact moment disaster begins to strike the patriarch Job, shown seated and receiving devastating news from the surrounding figures. These Men and Women, who serve as the messengers, report the sudden loss of his worldly possessions and family. In the foreground and background, the effects of the calamity are explicitly shown, where the scattered and overturned Sheep represent the immediate destruction of Job’s flocks and wealth, underscoring the completeness of his misfortune. Blake utilizes the dramatic gestures and physical attitudes of the figures to convey immediate, overwhelming emotional distress and despair.

Produced late in the artist's life, this series is regarded as one of Blake’s most important interpretive works on themes of divine justice and human suffering. This specific impression of the print is housed within the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. As a seminal work from the early 19th century, the image is widely referenced; high-resolution reproductions of this historical illustration of Job are often found in the public domain, facilitating broad scholarly access to Blake’s mature style and his unique contribution to the history of prints.