William Blake
1757-1827
When the Morning Stars Sang Together
ca. 1805-1810
11 x 7 1/16 inches (280 x 179 mm)
Pen and black ink, watercolor, over graphite, on paper.
2001.76
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.
Notes
One of twenty-one original drawings executed for Thomas Butts, ca. 1805-10, illustrating the Book of Job. This sheet is no. 14 in the series.
Description
The series of twenty-one watercolor illustrations for the Book of Job are one of Blake's supreme achievements. Here, God reenacts the creation of the world, while Job and his wife kneel below. The scene follows the moment in which Job challenged God to appear and explain why he deserved the succession of evils that devastated him. "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind . . . Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? . . . When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"
Associated names
Butts, Thomas, 1759-1846, former owner.
Houghton, Richard Monckton Milnes, Baron, 1809-1885, former owner.
Crewe, Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, Marquis of, 1858-1945, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Houghton, Richard Monckton Milnes, Baron, 1809-1885, former owner.
Crewe, Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, Marquis of, 1858-1945, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Bibliography
In August Company : The Collections of the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1993, p. 296, repr.
From Leonardo to Pollock: Master drawings from the Morgan Library. New York: Morgan Library, 2006, cat. no. 61, p. 130-131.
From Leonardo to Pollock: Master drawings from the Morgan Library. New York: Morgan Library, 2006, cat. no. 61, p. 130-131.
Artist
Classification
Century Drawings
School
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