William Blake (British, 1757–1827). <em>The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun (Rev. 12: 1-4)</em>, ca. 1803–1805. Black ink and watercolor over traces of graphite and incised lines on wove paper, Image: 17 3/16 x 13 11/16 in. (43.7 x 34.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of William Augustus White, 15.368 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 15.368_cropped_PS22.jpg)

William Blake (British, 1757–1827). The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun (Rev. 12: 1-4), ca. 1803–1805. Black ink and watercolor over traces of graphite and incised lines on wove paper, Image: 17 3/16 x 13 11/16 in. (43.7 x 34.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of William Augustus White, 15.368 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 15.368_cropped_PS22.jpg)

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Did Blake ever provide his own commentary on this piece?

Kind of! Between 1805-1810, Blake created over a hundred paintings illustrating scenes from the Bible. Among these was a four-painting cycle from the Book of Revelations, or The Apocalypse, in which John the Evangelist describes his vision of the end of the world.

The closest thing we have to "commentary" is how Blake decided to interpret the relevant passages to depict the four-part cycle. Because in the Bible, the text describes “an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads” who descends upon “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.”

The dragon embodies Satan, seeking to exact revenge on the woman who has given birth to a follower of God who will spread the Christian faith (i.e. Jesus).

What's the consensus on Blake's fixation with apocalyptic biblical themes? As opposed to a Renaissance style?

Tough question, but a good one. For Blake, the Bible was truly the most important and always-relevant, justified source of artistic inspiration, and he saw the Classical tradition (what I assume you mean by the Renaissance style) as false and pagan, as non-christian.

Was he suffering from mental health issues? Or was it just need to depict biblical themes in a new way?

I think Blake's was a deeply personal belief system, and if you look at his art works that combine text and image (such as the annotated print showing the ancient Laokoon sculpture, for example), you can really see that he does not think all images are fair game to draw inspiration from.

Did he reject the biblical works created by da Vinci, Michelangelo etc? Blake's darkness in depicting Christian themes is what draws me to his work....similar to Bosch.

"Neither character nor expression can exist without firm and determinate outlines," Blake is quoted as sayings; and you can relate that opinion to da Vinci's soft chiaro-scuro.

Why is this piece only on view once every few years?

The paints, inks, and even the paper that physically make up this artwork are quite sensitive to light; they can become fragile, discolored, or faded if exposed for too long. In an effort to preserve this piece for generations to come, it can only be in light-filled galleries for a short time with long periods of rest in dark storage in between.

The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun (Rev. 12: 1-4)

William Blake

European Art

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In this visionary image derived from the New Testament, artist and poet William Blake expressed feelings about his own tumultuous era and the universal battle between good and evil. This watercolor became a cultural icon after its appearance in the 2002 movie Red Dragon, based on Thomas Harris’s 1981 novel introducing the character of Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

Commissioned by his patron Thomas Butts to represent the books of the Bible, Blake created this watercolor based on a passage in the book of Revelation. The text refers to the appearance of “a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet” and “a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns.” In Blake’s interpretation, the muscular dragon, associated with Satan, looms menacingly over a radiant woman whose unborn child—humanity’s hope and salvation—the beast seeks to destroy. While Blake made three other paintings featuring the dragon, this is the only one in which the beast’s back dominates the composition, emphasizing the scale of evil that the dragon represents.

ARTIST William Blake, British, 1757–1827

MEDIUM Black ink and watercolor over traces of graphite and incised lines on wove paper

Place Made: England

DATES ca. 1803–1805

DIMENSIONS Image: 17 3/16 x 13 11/16 in. (43.7 x 34.8 cm) Sheet (with inlay): 21 11/16 x 17 1/16 in. (55.1 x 43.3 cm) (show scale)

SIGNATURE Signed bottom right: Monogram "WB inv"

INSCRIPTIONS Inscribed above the image: "A Woman clothed with the sun, & the moon under her feet, and/upon her head a crown of twelve stars; and behold a great red dragon also." Inscribed below the image at right: "Revns:ch:12th: v 4th:" Inscribed below the image: "And the tail of the great red dragon drew the third part of the stars of/heaven, and did cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the/woman which was ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as it was born."

COLLECTIONS European Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 15.368

CREDIT LINE Gift of William Augustus White

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION William Blake (British, 1757–1827). The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun (Rev. 12: 1-4), ca. 1803–1805. Black ink and watercolor over traces of graphite and incised lines on wove paper, Image: 17 3/16 x 13 11/16 in. (43.7 x 34.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of William Augustus White, 15.368 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 15.368_cropped_PS22.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 15.368_cropped_PS22.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2024

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