Queen Katherine's Dream
c. 1825
Medium
pen and ink with watercolor heightened with white and gold over graphite
Dimensions
Overall: 41.2 x 34.6 cm (16 1/4 x 13 5/8 in.) mat: 71.1 x 55.9 cm (28 x 22 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.9129
Art Historical Context
William Blake's *Queen Katherine's Dream*c. 1825) is a captivating late work by the visionary British artist, poet, and printmaker (7–1827). toward the end of Blake's life, it likely draws from the dramatic vision of Queen Katharine of Aragon in Shakespeare's *Henry VIII*, where she dreams of divine judgment amid her royal tribulations. As a key figure in Romanticism, Blake infused his art with mystical symbolism, blending literary inspiration with spiritual fervor, making this piece a window into his imaginative world. Rendered in pen and ink with watercolor heightened with white and gold ov...
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...