Blake’s Illustrations of Dante. Plate 4: “Circle of Thieves. Agnolo Brunelleschi Attacked by a six-footed serpent”.
1838. London: 1838 or ca. 1892.
Large folio, fine, clear uniform impression on India paper, mounted on wove paper.
§ Incomplete at the time of his death, Blake’s illustrations for the Divine Comedy, commissioned by John Linnell, are some of his finest and most affecting inventions. From 102 illustrations, ranging from pencil sketches to finished watercolours, Blake made seven engravings, also left incomplete. This is the first or second impression of the plate; the two are indistinguishable. Bentley, Blake Books, 448D. Bindman, Complete Graphic Works of Blake, 647–653. Essick, “The Printings of William Blake’s Dante Engravings,” Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly, Fall 1990. Item #8927
Price: $12,500.00