"To him the mighty mother did unveil Her awful face..." (Design 49)

William Blake, 1757–1827, British, "To him the mighty mother did unveil Her awful face..." (Design 49), between 1797 and 1798

Print Record | Large Print Record

Creator:: William Blake, 1757–1827
Text by Thomas Gray, 1716–1771
Title:: "To him the mighty mother did unveil Her awful face..." (Design 49)
Additional Title(s):: Verso: "Dryden... Bright-eyed Fancy, hov'ring o'er..." (Design 50)
The Progress of Poesy
Part Of:: Collective Title: The Poems of Thomas Gray
Date:: between 1797 and 1798
Materials & Techniques:: Watercolor with pen and black ink over graphite on moderately thick, slightly textured, cream wove paper with inlaid letterpress page
Dimensions:: Sheet: 16 1/2 x 12 3/4 inches (41.9 x 32.4 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:: Inscribed in gray ink upper right: "9"; in graphite center: "x"; on verso in black ink upper left: "10"; in graphite center: "x"
Credit Line:: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:: Public Domain
Accession Number:: B1992.8.11(25)
Classification:: Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:: Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:: child | children | fairies | flames | girl | infant | key | keys | literary theme | lyre | men | meteorology | mother | nude | rainbow | religious and mythological subject | science | shawl | shawls | snakes | text | vase | vessel | water | women
Access:: Accessible by appointment in the Study Room [Request]
Note: The Study Room is open by appointment. Please visit the Study Room page on our website for more details.
Link:: https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:3638
Export:: XML
IIIF Manifest:: JSON

This sheet, one of the fifty-eight that Blake provided for Nancy Flaxman, illustrates Gray’s “Progress of Poesy.” On one side Blake depicts Nature emerging from the moon, lifting the veil off her face to stare into the eyes of the infant Shakespeare and present him with the golden keys that unlock the human passions. In the foreground stands a figure representing the river Avon which flows through Shakespeare’s birthplace of Stratford. On the reverse John Dryden, a poet for whom Blake had little time, receives inspiration from “Bright-eyed Fancy.”

Gallery label for Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2008-06-09 - 2008-08-17)

Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2008-06-09 - 2008-08-17) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art (The State Hermitage Museum, 2007-10-23 - 2008-01-13) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2007-07-11 - 2007-09-30) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

Colin Cross, Blake revealed, William Blake : Discovery of a Masterwork , Observer, vol. 12, November 21, 1971, pp. 19-23, V 1245 Detached from Observer colour magazine [ORBIS]

Arnold Fawcus, Unknown Watercolours by William Blake, Illustrated London News, vol. 259, No. 6881, December 25, 1971, pp. 45-46, 49-51, Illustrated London News Historical Archive [ORBIS]

Yale Center for British Art, Great British watercolors : from the Paul Mellon Collection, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2007, pp. 72-75, nos. 30 A & B, ND1928 .Y35 2007 (LC)+ Oversize (YCBA) [YCBA]

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