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Illustrated manuscript of Genesis : The creation of Adam
Illustrated manuscript of Genesis : The creation of Adam

Illustrated manuscript of Genesis : The creation of Adam

Maker (British, 1757 - 1827)
Additional Title(s)
  • Genesis manuscript [no. 5 of 11 leaves]
Collections
ClassificationsDRAWINGS
Dateca. 1826-1827
Mediumpencil, pen(?) and watercolor on wove paper
Dimensionsimage including text: 11 1/8 x 8 3/8 in. (28.3 x 21.3 cm.) tailpiece: 6 1/16 x 8 3/8 in. (15.4 x 21.3 cm.) sheet: 14 7/8 x 10 13/16 in. (37.8 x 27.5 cm.)
DescriptionText of Genesis 1:25-31. Verses 25-27 in green and red over pencil, remainder in green over pencil. Design in pencil only. In the illustration, a figure on the left, probably Adam, strides with arms raised towards three figures on the right arranged in a recessional diagonal from right to left. Their arms are raised in parallel to form three strong diagonals rising from left to right. Blake used similar arrangements of aligned figures with complementary gestures to picture the accusatory friends in his Job illustrations, first executed as watercolors ca. 1805-1806 (Butlin 1981, No. 550) and engraved ca. 1823-26. A few lines suggest clouds right and left of the four figures. Partly erased lines indicate that Blake first drew a somewhat larger version of Adam. The central figure in the group of three appears to be bearded like God the Father on leaves 1-3. The group may be either the Father, accompanied by wingless versions of the attendants given Him on leaf 3, or the Trinity just after having "created man in his own image" (1:27). [1] Notes 1. Damon 1924, 220, and 1965, 151, calls the group "the Trinity"; but Butlin 1981, 598, descfribes them as "God facing Adam, with two attendant figures."
Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Status
Not on view
Object number000.36
Terms