Job's Sons and Daughters Overwhelmed by Satan
1825
Medium
engraving on thin paper
Classification
Portfolio
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.1667
Art Historical Context
In the haunting engraving *Job's Sons and Daughters Overwhelmed by Satan* (1825), William Blake captures a pivotal moment from the Book of Job in the Bible, where divine calamity strikes Job's family amid a whirlwind unleashed by Satan. Created late in Blake's life, this work is part of his monumental series *Illustrations of the Book of Job*, a set of 21 engravings that explore profound themes of suffering, faith, and redemption. Blake, a visionary artist of the Romantic era, infused his biblical narratives with mystical energy, blending spiritual insight with dramatic human emotion. Rendere...
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...