Job and His Family
1825
Medium
engraving on thick paper
Dimensions
image: 9.1 × 11.7 cm (3 9/16 × 4 5/8 in.) plate: 19.9 × 16.5 cm (7 13/16 × 6 1/2 in.)
Classification
Portfolio
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.1653
Art Historical Context
William Blake's *Job and His Family* (1825) is a poignant engraving from the National Gallery of Art's Rosenwald Collection, capturing a serene biblical scene from the Book of Job. Created late in Blake's career, it depicts Job surrounded by his prosperous family, kneeling in prayer amid musicians and children—a moment of harmony before the trials that define his story. As a key Romantic artist and visionary printmaker, Blake infused his works with mystical spirituality, drawing from scripture to explore themes of faith, suffering, and divine mystery. Printed on thick paper, this small-scale ...
About the Artist
William Blake · 1757–1827
William Blake (1757–1827) stands as one of the most visionary and unconventional artists in British history, a poet-painter-printmaker whose mystical imagination and radical vision profoundly shaped the Romantic movement. Born in London's Soho district, Blake experienced visions from childhood—claiming to see angels in trees at age eight—and these spiritual encounters would guide his art throughou...