Songs of Innocence: Frontispiece
Original title: Songs of Innocence: Frontispiece
kurzbeschreibung
A young man with an arrow looks up at an angel hovering above him on a leaf — this is the frontispiece to William Blake's Songs of Innocence (ca. 1825). It was executed as a relief etching in orange-brown ink, hand-colored with watercolor and shell gold.
Description
A barefoot youth in blue trousers stands with his gaze lifted toward a floating angel who lies on a pink leaf in a playful pose. Trees and rocks suggest an idyllic landscape. Green vines frame the image as a border.
Context
Songs of Innocence first appeared in 1789; Blake developed his own illuminated printing for it. This particular sheet belongs to a later printing around 1825. By putting text and image on a single copper plate, he united poetry and visual art into one whole.
Impact
Delicate coloring and the hovering angelic figure give the sheet a light, playful mood. Clear lines meet colored accents, producing a dreamlike, almost naive aura.
Technique
In relief etching, the non-printing areas are etched away so that the lines remain raised. Printing was done in orange-brown; then the areas were hand-colored with watercolor and shell gold.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)