Page:Life of William Blake 2, Gilchrist.djvu/311

 OF

BLAKE'S PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, AND ENGRAVINGS.

LIST. I.

WORKS IN COLOUR.

SECTION A.— DATED WORKS.

ARRANGED IN ORDER OF DATE.

1. 1778-9.—The Penance of Jane Shore in St. Paul's Church. Varnished Water-colour. See p. 31, Vol. I., and Blake's Descriptive Catalogue, p. 163, Vol. II.

2. Circa 1779.—King Edward and Queen Eleanor. See p. 31, Vol. I.

3. 1780.—The Death of Earl Godwin. See p. 35, Vol. I.

4. 1784.—War unchained by an Angel—Fire, Pestilence, and Famine following. [Butts.] See p. 54, Vol. I.

5. 1784.—A Breach in a City—the Morning after a Battle. See p. 54, Vol. I.

The colour slight, but the tone strong and full, with the darkness of earliest dawn. Women lie mourning over the heaped dead: a widow bemoaning her knight, and a woman and aged man proceeding upon their search, are the chief figures, the subject being prolonged far into the background. An eagle has settled to the left, watching for the departure of the mourners, impatient till his banquet begins. Able and impressive. (This was called in the Catalogue of the Bicknell sale, 1863, 'The Plague':