Minneapolis Institute of Art

Thy Sons & thy Daughters were eating & drinking Wine…

William BlakeLinkedCulture matchlcp-0b690e4fa6a3

Date

1825

Medium

Engraving

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Object ID

46426

The debauchery of Job's children can no longer be ignored. The six younger sons have all taken mistresses. Job becomes enraged. Satan the Accuser, born in Job's brain, descends in flames and destroys all the sons and their mistresses. In the center of the composition, the eldest son attempts in vain to rescue his child. One brother in the lower right, falls downward in the position of an upside down crucifixion and tumbles upon a wine goblet and a platter—the wealth that has resulted in his downfall. One concubine lies stretched out in the bottom of the composition with her feet on a timbrel and a lyre, beneath her left arm alluding to the music that she had so degraded to secular pleasure. In the margins, the flames are repeated; two scorpions raise their stings; and the coils of the great serpent, symbolizing the religion of Materialism, are now visible. England, Europe

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