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Drawings

Illustration 2 to Milton's "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity": The Annunciation to the Shepherds

1 of 3
Type
Drawings(Opens in new tab)
Date
ca. 1814-1816
Accession number
000.15
Maker
William Blake(Opens in new tab) (British, 1757–1827)
Dimensions
6 1/4 x 4 15/16 in. (15.9 x 12.6 cm.) mount: 14 x 9 7/16 in. (35.5 x 24 cm.)
Medium
pen and watercolor
Description
The "helmed Cherubim/ And…Seraphim/ Are seen in glittering ranks with wings display'd" (112-14). The Cherubim stand within "A Globe of circular light" (110) with their arms raised and crossing in a symmetrical pattern like the "Chorus of the Skies" in one of Blake's Night Thoughts watercolors of ca. 1795-97 (British Museum: Butlin 1981, No. 330.437) and the personified Morning Stars in the fourteenth Job design of ca. 1805-1806. [1] The circumference of the "Angel Choir" (27) is formed by the Seraphim, two blowing trumpets (perhaps foreshadowing the "trump of doom," 156) and several with timbrels (see 000.18). Below are "The Shepherds on the Lawn/ …in a rustic row," their gestures expressing the "blissful rapture" with which they receive the announcement of the incarnation (85-6, 98). The eight foreground figures suggest a family group composed of men, women (far left, and probably third from left and second from right), and at least one child (held by the woman far left). Their "sheep" (91) and a dog (left of the second figure from the right) rest behind them. A second dog (left corner) and a ram (right corner) are similar to those sleeping in the foreground of the first and last Job watercolors of ca. 1805-1806 (Pierpoint Morgan Library, Butlin 1981, Nos. 550.1 and 550.21). Behind the flock on the right are the outlines of two, or perhaps three, tents. On the horizon above the center shepherd is the stable of the Nativity, now (and in both its later appearances) with lateral extensions on each side of the rectangular building introduced in the first design. The crossing form of this structure in which Jesus is born foreshadows the structure on which He will be crucified. The outline of a human form is barely visible within the stable. In the earlier, Whitworth version, the circle of angels includes eight (rather than nine or more) wingless Seraphim forming the circumference. Four of them hold lyres and one, upper left, plays "stringed noise" (97) on a lute. Within the circle are five Cherubim, as in the Huntington version, but with the central angel part of the group rather than standing in front of it. The Cherubim wear long gowns, their swords (see 113) hang at their left sides, and their raised wings are more prominent than in the Huntington version. The shepherds are more symmetrically arranged, with two aged and bearded men on the left, both praying, and two younger figures on the right. The central figure turns to the left, and between him and the group of two adults on the left is a child with his left hand resting on the head of a dog. The dog and ram in the lower corners of the Huntington design are not pictured. There is a prominent hill in the background on the right, but no tents. The stable is much larger. We can clearly see two figures within, no doubt Joseph and Mary, the latter perhaps holding the infant Jesus. Notes 1. Pierpoint Morgan Library; Butlin 1981, No. 550.14. See also "David Delivered out of Many Waters," a watercolor of ca. 1805 (Tate Gallery; Butlin 1981, No. 552). A likely source for this crossing pattern is a relief from Persepolis engraved in James Basire's shop for Jacob Bryant, A New System of Ancient Mythology (London, 1774-75), 2: Pl. 2. Blake was one of Basire's apprentices at that time and may have helped with the Bryant plates. Blake refers to Bryant in his Descriptive Catalogue of 1809 (Blake 1982, 543).
Credit
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Department
European Art
Find out more
View in the Art Museum catalog(Opens in new tab)
A circular quire of angels announces the birth of Christ to the shepherds and their families. The stable of the Nativity can be seen on the horizon just below the angels.

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