File:William Blake The Ghost of Flea 1819-20 Tempera & gold on mahogany.jpg
Summary
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/William_Blake" title="William Blake">William Blake</a> The Ghost of a Flea 1819-20 Tempera & gold on mahogany
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Varley" class="extiw" title="w:John Varley">John Varley</a> – an artist, astrologer and close friend of Blake – reported in his Treatise on Zodiacal Physiognomy (1828) that Blake once had a spiritual vision of a ghost of a flea and that ‘This spirit visited his imagination in such a figure as he never anticipated in an insect.’ While drawing the spirit it told the artist that all fleas were inhabited by the souls of men who were ‘by nature bloodthirsty to excess’. In the painting it holds a cup for blood-drinking and stares eagerly towards it. Blake’s amalgamation of man and beast suggests a human character marred by animalistic traits.
William Blake (1757‑1827)
The Ghost of a Flea
c.1819-20
Tempera and gold on mahogany
214 x 162 mm frame: 382 x 324 x 50 mm
Tate
Bequeathed by W. Graham Robertson 1949
Reference
N05889
Licensing
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
File history
Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.
| Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| current | 19:25, 13 January 2017 | | 1,162 × 1,536 (506 KB) | 127.0.0.1 (talk) | <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/William_Blake" title="William Blake">William Blake</a> The Ghost of a Flea 1819-20 Tempera & gold on mahogany <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Varley" class="extiw" title="w:John Varley">John Varley</a> – an artist, astrologer and close friend of Blake – reported in his <i>Treatise on Zodiacal Physiognomy</i> (1828) that Blake once had a spiritual vision of a ghost of a flea and that ‘This spirit visited his imagination in such a figure as he never anticipated in an insect.’ While drawing the spirit it told the artist that all fleas were inhabited by the souls of men who were ‘by nature bloodthirsty to excess’. In the painting it holds a cup for blood-drinking and stares eagerly towards it. Blake’s amalgamation of man and beast suggests a human character marred by animalistic traits. </p> <p>William Blake (1757‑1827) </p> <p>The Ghost of a Flea </p> <p>c.1819-20 </p> <p>Tempera and gold on mahogany </p> <p>214 x 162 mm frame: 382 x 324 x 50 mm </p> <p>Tate </p> <p>Bequeathed by W. Graham Robertson 1949 </p> <p>Reference </p> N05889 |
- You cannot overwrite this file.
File usage
The following page links to this file:
