Page:The letters of William Blake (1906).djvu/29

 Rh ; and from the designs of the latter from "Shakespeare" and "Milton" it is sufficiently clear that the gain was not on Blake's side alone. I have even identified a sketch by Romney from Paradise Lost bearing Blake's signature forged upon it.

In the same letter from Flaxman, just alluded to, there is mention of another matter, which has hitherto escaped the notice of Blake's biographers, which is a proposal to send him to Rome. It is difficult to be thankful enough that this most generous offer was never carried into effect, when we consider the disastrous influence of the Sistine Chapel in annihilating the very considerable ability of such artists as Barry and Fuseli, not to mention a host of others of inferior rank. This terrible neo-michelangelism is responsible for many of the worst excesses of the school to which they belonged. As it was, the only way in which Blake was able to become acquainted with the works of Michel Angelo was through the medium of engravings and studies from them, and that he made use of his opportunities is shown by some copies (now in the Print Room of the British Museum) executed at this period, after Adam Ghisi's Sistine prints.

The death of his brother, Robert, in 1787, may be taken to mark the beginning of a new era in Blake's artist career; since the publication of the books of songs and prophecies, with which his name