Minneapolis Institute of Art

And I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

William Blake

Date

1825

Medium

Engraving

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Two messengers arrive left feet first to announce the disasters. For Blake, the right hand and foot symbolized the spiritual; the left evoked the material. Job and his wife are seated beneath a pair of heavy stone crosses. Above them is a tree with scant foliage and no fruit. To the left, the Gothic church appears for the last time in the series. The news strikes Job like the thunderbolt depicted in the margins. Satan penetrates even deeper into Job's soul; he surmounts the globe and moves inward with his sword in his left hand. On the upper corners of the composition lie the forms of dead angels-the innocent joys or spiritual blessings, which will be revived later. England, Europe

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