Artwork
Job and His Family
Job and His Family is an ink print by the Romanticist artist William Blake. It dates from 1825 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1825, Job and His Family is an engraving executed on India paper. It is one of the later works produced by William Blake, the London‑based poet‑artist whose career spanned the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The print belongs to a series that visualises the biblical narrative of Job, employing Blake’s distinctive symbolic language.
Subject & Meaning
The composition presents a bearded elder seated on a rock, holding a book while surrounded by his relatives and domestic animals. A modest landscape unfolds behind them, with gentle hills and a distant church, suggesting a setting of quiet devotion. The gathering conveys a sense of reverence, as the family appears to listen attentively to the elder’s words.
Technique & Style
Blake rendered the scene with fine, intersecting lines that create intricate textures and a palpable sense of depth. The engraving’s delicate hatching and cross‑hatching give the figures a three‑dimensional presence on the flat surface of the paper. The overall visual language reflects Blake’s imaginative interpretation of biblical themes, characteristic of his personal symbolic vocabulary.
History & Provenance
The print was produced toward the end of Blake’s life, a period when he was consolidating his series of biblical illustrations. It was printed on India paper, a material that had become common for fine prints in the early nineteenth century, allowing for greater detail and durability. The work has remained in collections that focus on Romantic-era printmaking.
Context
Job and His Family emerges from the broader Romantic movement, which emphasized individual emotion, the sublime, and a renewed interest in myth and scripture. Blake’s approach diverges from academic illustration, favoring a personal, visionary rendering of the biblical story that aligns with Romantic ideals of imagination and spiritual inquiry.
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Artist & collection
Artist
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter and printmaker.
