Songs of Innocence: The Little Boy Found
[1789] printed ca. 1825
Medium
Relief etching printed in orange-brown ink and hand-colored with watercolor and shell gold
Dimensions
sheet: 6 3/16 x 5 9/16 in. (15.7 x 14.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1917
Accession Number
17.10.14
Tags
Art Historical Context
William Blake's *Songs of Innocence: Little Boy Found*, from his groundbreaking 1789 illuminated book *Songs of Innocence*, a tender moment of reunion between a lost boy and his mother, guided by divine light amid whispering trees. Printed around 1825 in a late impression, this small relief etching (just 6 3/16 x 5 9/16 inches) reflects Blake's Romantic vision, blending poetry, prophecy, and childlike wonder to explore innocence, spirituality, and the human soul's journey. As a poet, printmaker, and mystic, Blake challenged the Industrial Revolution's mechanization with works that celebrated i...
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...