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Creator:
William Blake, 1757–1827
Title:
The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins
Additional Title(s):
The Wise and Foolish Virgins
Date:
ca. 1825
Materials & Techniques:
Watercolor with pen and black ink on medium, moderately textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 16 5/8 x 13 7/8 inches (42.2 x 35.2 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:

Signed in gold ink, lower right: "W Blake inv"

Inscribed in graphite, verso, lower left, encircled: "5[...]"; in graphite, verso, lower left: "BLAKE, WiLLiAM : WiSE + FOOLiSH ViRGiNS | 62/5/22/2"

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.6102
Classification:
Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
angels | clouds | houses | judgments | night | oil lamps | parable | religious and mythological subject | robes | spires | trumpets | virgins | wisdom | women
Associated People:
Jesus Christ (7–2 BC/BCE to 30–36 AD/CE)
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:7242
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Between 1799 and 18o9 Blake produced an extensive set of biblical illustrations for Thomas Butts, a government clerk of modest means who was an enthusiastic supporter of Blake’s art. This watercolor of the parable found in Matthew 25:1-13, a version of the subject originally painted for Butts in 18o5, was made for the engraver William Haines of Chichester. Blake illustrates the moment when the writhing, foolish virgins discover they have no more oil for their lamps and the upright wise virgins refuse to share theirs. Blake has adapted his iconography from a traditional image of the judgment of souls.

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)

The Critique of Reason : Romantic Art, 1760–1860 (Yale University Art Gallery, 2015-03-06 - 2015-07-26) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

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]

The Human Form Divine - William Blake from the Paul Mellon Collection (Yale Center for British Art, 1997-04-02 - 1997-07-06) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

William Blake (Tokyo) (The National Museum of Western Art, 1990-09-18 - 1990-11-25) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

William Blake - His Art & Times (Art Gallery of Ontario, 1982-12-03 - 1983-02-06) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

William Blake - His Art & Times (Yale Center for British Art, 1982-09-15 - 1982-11-14) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

William Blake [Butlin] (Whitworth Art Gallery, 1978-06-10 - 1978-07-15) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

William Blake [Butlin] (Tate Britain, 1978-03-08 - 1978-05-21) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

English Drawings and Watercolors from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon (Yale University Art Gallery, 1965-04-15 - 1965-06-20) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

A loan exhibition of English drawings and watercolours from the collection of Mr and Mrs Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia, P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London, 1964, frontispiece, no. 1, Pl. 1, N5247.M385 L62 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Brian Allen, The Sport of Collecting : Paul Mellon and British Art, Apollo, vol.165, April 2007, pp. 34, 36, fig. 3, N1 A54 + (YCBA) [YCBA]

An exhibition of English drawings and water colors from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, February 18-April 1, 1962, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1962, pp. 7, 30, no. 4, pl. 4, NC228 U6 (YCBA) Copy 2 is on Mellon Shelf [YCBA]

Naomi Billingsley, The visionary art of William Blake: Christianity, Romanticism and the Pictorial Imagination, I.B. Tauris, London ; New York, plate 9, NJ18.B57 B55 2018 (LC) (YCBA) [YCBA]

David Bindman, William Blake : His art and times, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1982, pp. 172-73, no. 113, NJ18 .B57 B524 (LC)+ Oversize YCBA [ORBIS]

Martin Butlin, William Blake, Tate Publishing, London, 1978, p. 91, no. 173, NJ18 .B57 B87 (LC)+ Oversize YCBA [ORBIS]

English Drawings and Watercolours from the Mellon Collection, The Times (London), , December 15, 1964, p. 6, Available online: The Times Digital Archive Also available on Microfilm: Film An T482 (SML) [ORBIS]

Catherine M. Gordon, British paintings Hogarth to Turner, Frederick Warne, London, 1981, p. 5, ND466 .G67 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Matthew Hargraves, William Blake and Paul Mellon : the life of the mind, Open Knowledge Foundation, New York, 2014, [ pp. 3, 4 ], fig. 3, V 2557 [ORBIS]

Matthew Hargraves, William Blake and Paul Mellon : the life of the mind, Open Knowledge Foundation, New York, 2014, [ pp. 3, 4 ], fig. 3, http://openglam.org/2014/10/07/william-blake-and-paul-mellon-the-life-of-the-mind [Website]

National Museum of Western Art (Tokyo), Uiriamu bureiku ten : William Blake, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc., Tokyo, 1990, pp. 171, 270, no. 49, NJ18 .B57 U3 1990 (LC)+ Oversize (YCBA) [YCBA]

Patrick Noon, The human form divine : William Blake from the Paul Mellon Collection, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1997, pp. 69, 82, NJ18 .B57 N66 (LC) YCBA [ORBIS]

Painting in England 1700-1850 : collection of Mr. & Mrs. Paul Mellon : Exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, , , Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, 1963, v.1: p. 202, no. 387, ND466 V57 v.1-2 (YCBA) [YCBA]

The Yale Center for British Art : An Anniversary Celebration of Paul Mellon's Great Legacy, , Apollo, April 2007, pp. 34, 36, fig. 3, N5220 M552 A7 OVERSIZE (YCBA) Appeared as April 2007 issue of Apollo; all of the articles may also be found in bound Apollo Volume [N1 A54 165:2 +] [YCBA]

Yale Center for British Art, Great British watercolors : from the Paul Mellon Collection, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2007, pp. 76-77, no. 31, ND1928 .Y35 2007 (LC)+ Oversize (YCBA) [YCBA]

Yale University Art Gallery, English drawings and watercolors from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, April 15-June 20,1965, , New Haven, 1965, no. 1, frontispiece, NC228 Y34 (YCBA) [YCBA]


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