About this work

William Blake painted this in about 1803–5, aged about 41. It is now at The Met in New York.

How it was made

Watercolour: Pigment in gum arabic, thinned with water and laid in transparent washes. Nothing white is painted: the light is the paper showing through.
Graphite: Pencil. Graphite has been used for drawing since the 1500s; in 1795 Nicolas-Jacques Conté mixed it with clay, so its hardness could be graded.
Pen and ink: Drawn with a quill or reed pen, often with wash added by brush to model light and shadow.

William Blake

British, 1757–1827 · Born and died in London.

Rights and the museum’s record

Public domain. The Met has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.

Object number: 14.81.1
Credit: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Type: Drawings
Department: Drawings and Prints
Licence: CC0 1.0 Universal
Museum record: See it on the museum’s site

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