The Six-Footed Serpent Attacking Agnolo Brunelleschi

Maker William Blake (British, 1757 - 1827)

Collections

William Blake Collection

ClassificationsDRAWINGS

Dateca. 1826-1827

Mediumpencil on wove paper

Dimensions9 1/2 x 13 in. (24.2 x 33 cm.) sheet: 9 11/16 x 13 in. (24.6 x 33 cm.)

DescriptionIn 1824, John Linnell commissioned Blake to design a series of illustrations to Dante's Divine Comedy, apparently with the intention of issuing a series of engravings. Blake prepared a main series of 102 drawings, approx. 37 x 53 cm., left at his death in various stages of completion but most including some watercolors. He also began, probably in 1826, to engrave seven of the illustrations, including the subject of this pencil sketch, but these too are unfinished (see 000.11). All three versions-the watercolor (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Butlin 1981, No. 812.51), the Huntington drawing, and the engraving-are very similar. At least two details, however, distinguish the sketch and engraving from the watercolor: the head and tail positions of the serpent in the middle distance just left of the thigh of the figure second from the right, and the scales on the back of the monster devouring the central figure. Thus, it seems likely that the sketch was made after the watercolor as a preliminary to the engraving. Comparative measurements indicate that the drawing may have been transferred facedown to the copper, with minor adjustments during the subsequent engraving process. Transfer might also explain the rather flat appearance of many of the pencil lines and the stained and oddly mottled condition of the paper. The framing lines below and to the right of the image (and trimmed from the top and left?) also associate the drawing with the engraving. No indentation from the edge of the plate is visible on the drawing, for the present size of the sheet is smaller than the copperplate, now in the Rosenwald Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington. A somewhat freer pencil study, probably preliminary to the Melbourne watercolor, is in the collection of the Fondazione Home, Florence (Butlin 1981, No. 821). Butlin 1981, No. 812.18, reports (but does not reproduce) another possible version on the verso of "Virgil Repelling Filippo from the Boat of Phlegyas" in the main series of watercolors (Fogg Art Museum). The design illustrates Inferno 25:33-78. Dante stands on the far left, with Virgil slightly behind him with his hands on his breast. Both watch in awe as Cianfa de'Donati, in the form of a six-footed serpent, fastens on to his fellow thief Agnolo Brunelleschi and begins to merge with him. Blake closely follows Dante's detailed description of the monster's attack, including the tail thrust between the victim's thighs. On the right are two more Florentine thieves, Puccio Sciancato and Buoso (degli Abati or de'Donati). Their frightened gestures are complemented in the engraving by their hair which, like Agnolo's, stands out in sharp points. The Huntington sketch includes a few hellish flames in the background between the monster's wings. The myth of Orc in Blake's poetry in the mid-1790s includes the transformation of man into serpent. In his watercolor illustration of ca. 1795-97 to Edward Young's Night Thoughts, Blake drew several half-human, half-serpent figures (British Museum; Butlin 1981, Nos. 330.296, 330.358, 330.361, 330.369). But none of these earlier examples captures the spirit of the horrific sublime as powerfully as this Dante illustration. Roe 1953, 107-108, interprets the watercolor version from the perspective of concepts in Blake's own writings. He suggests that the central theme is "Man in his Spectre's power" and accounts for the feminine appearance of the thief second from the right as an allusion to Blake's division of fallen man into male specter and female emanation. [1] Hoff 1961, 2, suggests a similarity between Blake's figure of Agnolo and Hendrik Goltzius' engraving after Cornelius van Haarlem's "The Dragon Devouring the Companions of Cadmus" (1588), a hero Dante mentions in line 97 of the same canto. The woman lightly sketched on the verso strides to the right with right foot forward. Her body is turned toward us, but her face is shown in profile. Her hair seems to be gathered into a bun on top of her head; she may be holding something in her right hand. Martin Butlin has suggested to me in correspondence that this sketch may be a preliminary version of the woman second from the left in "Beatrice Addressing Dante from the Car" among the Divine Comedy watercolor of 1824-27 (Tate Gallery; Butlin 1981, No. 812.88). While the stance and right arm position of these two figures are similar, the hair and upturned face of the woman in the pencil sketch associate her with the second woman from the right in the "Beatrice" watercolor. Notes 1. Relevant passages are Jerusalem, Pl. 11, lines 6-7, and Pl. 41, reverse inscription (Blake 1982, 154, 184).

InscribedInscribed on verso in pencil: 8/16 Pencil sketch by Blake of a standing woman on verso

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Label TextA preliminary drawing for the fourth Dante engraving. The poor condition of the paper and pencil lines may have resulted from the transfer of the drawing facedown onto the copperplate.

Status

Not on view

Object number000.43

Terms