Artwork
The Ghost of Samuel Appearing to Saul
The Ghost of Samuel Appearing to Saul is an ink drawing by the Romanticist artist William Blake. It dates from 1800 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower right: WB inv; lower right on mount: 1st.Samuel 28th.ch:12th to 21; lower right on mount: (title and text in copperplate hand)
About this work
Overview
Created around 1800, William Blake’s drawing The Ghost of Samuel Appearing to Saul combines pen and ink with watercolor applied over a graphite base. Executed as a single sheet, the work portrays a dramatic biblical episode in which the prophet Samuel returns from the dead to confront the king Saul, rendered in Blake’s distinctive visionary manner.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on a spectral Samuel, an elderly figure with flowing white hair and a robe, extending a hand toward a kneeling Saul whose eyes are wide with astonishment. To the left a curly‑haired onlooker gazes upward, while on the right a horned, leaf‑crowned creature crouches with an open mouth, introducing a contrasting, unsettling presence that heightens the sense of revelation and supernatural intervention.
Technique & Style
Blake employed a layered approach: a graphite sketch establishes the forms, over which he applied precise pen and ink lines to define contours and details. Soft watercolor washes diffuse the background, lending the scene a hazy, dream‑like atmosphere. The interplay of sharp drawing and muted color exemplifies Blake’s synthesis of illustrative precision with imaginative, symbolic imagery.
History & Provenance
The drawing was produced during Blake’s later London period, a time when his visionary and prophetic themes were largely unappreciated by contemporaries. It remained in private collections for much of the 19th century before entering a public institution in the early 20th century, where it has been studied as part of Blake’s broader corpus of biblical and mythological works.
Context
Blake’s interest in biblical narratives often merged with his personal mythopoeia, treating scriptural episodes as vehicles for exploring spiritual insight. This work reflects that blend, presenting a well‑known Old Testament story through a lens that emphasizes inner revelation, moral confrontation, and the tension between divine authority and human frailty.
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Artist & collection
Artist
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter and printmaker.
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