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Songs of Innocence and of Experience: Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul

Original title: Songs of Innocence and of Experience: Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul

Artist

William Blake

Date

[1789–94] printed ca. 1825

Medium

Relief etching printed in orange-brown ink and hand-colored with watercolor, ink and shell gold

Dimensions

Each plate approx: 4 7/16 × 2 13/16 in. (11.2 × 7.1 cm) Each sheet approx: 6 3/16 x 5 9/16 in. (15.7 x 14.1 cm)

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1917

kurzbeschreibung

Two figures embodying the opposing states of the human soul anchor the title page of William Blake's 'Songs of Innocence and of Experience'. The print was made between 1789 and 1794, while this particular copy was pulled around 1825. Blake combined relief etching in orange-brown ink with hand-coloring in watercolor, ink, and shell gold. The sheet unites the collection's elaborate title with the two central figures in an ornamental design.

Description

Within a flowing structure dominated by warm oranges and reds, two figures command the sheet. Above them runs the lettering 'SONGS OF INNOCENCE and OF EXPERIENCE' in an ornate, intricate hand, with the subtitle in smaller type below. The layout feels symmetrical: the figural relief in the middle, text above and below. The colors stand out vividly and with strong contrast, and the coloring in the relief differs markedly from that in the text area.

Context

For his illuminated books, Blake developed relief etching, in which text and image are drawn and etched as a unity on the printing plate. The collection first appeared in 1789 with the 'Songs of Innocence'; in 1794 the 'Songs of Experience' were added. The present copy was printed around 1825 and colored by Blake himself, as was usual for his illuminated prints. Blake understood the two groups of poems as dialectical opposites, which the subtitle explicitly names.

Impact

Ornamental typography and figural depiction enter into a close union, so that the page works as a whole and seems almost medieval; text and image can hardly be separated. The warm coloring with luminous orange and red tones gives the sheet a noble, precious appearance, further emphasized by the gold applications.

Technique

Blake invented relief etching, in which the printing lines remain and the ground is etched away. Printing was done in orange-brown ink; afterward Blake colored the impressions by hand with watercolor, ink, and shell gold. The sheets were produced in a small edition, whose copies differ from one another through the individual coloring.

AI-generated description text

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)