Songs of Innocence: Holy Thursday
Original title: Songs of Innocence: Holy Thursday
kurzbeschreibung
On Holy Thursday, orphan children from London were led to a service at St. Paul's Cathedral—a custom Blake takes up in his poem 'Holy Thursday.' This print belongs to his 1789 collection Songs of Innocence and survives here in an impression from around 1825. The relief etching was printed in orange-brown ink and colored by hand with watercolor and shell gold. Children gathering in the street, along with decorative rows of figures and ornamental vines, shape the layout.
Description
A central text panel carries the title 'HOLY THURSDAY' in large ornamental letters, with the English poem below. Two rows of figures stand above and below the text: children and adults; the children wear red, blue, green, and yellow, the adults gray and white. An elaborate frame of leaves and vines encloses the entire text and image area. Orange-brown as the printing ink and white as the paper's base tone form the foundation, joined by the bright watercolor hues of the figures and shimmering gold.
Context
In 1789 Blake issued Songs of Innocence, part of his prophetic works, which he printed and colored himself in relief etching. The poem 'Holy Thursday' takes up the day when London orphan children were led to a service at St. Paul's Cathedral, bringing their social situation into view. The impression from about 1825 comes from a period when Blake reprinted older works for collectors, executing different colorings. To unite word and image was his concept of 'illuminated printing,' to which text, figure, and ornamental framing belong equally.
Impact
Precise relief printing and delicate hand-coloring produce a calm, solemn mood suited to the poem's religious occasion. The symmetrically ranged figures and the ornamental frame give the sheet a clear, almost iconic order, while the bright colors unfold a lively, nearly naive effect. Print and painting interlock, so that the work feels at once artisanal and poetic.
Technique
In the relief etching process Blake developed, text and lines remained raised while the spaces between were etched away; printing was done in orange-brown ink. He then colored the impressions by hand with watercolors and shell gold, so that each edition turned out individually. The print measures 15.7 × 14.1 cm and combines printmaking with manual finishing, as is typical of Blake.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)