“Engraving from “The Song of Los”

The Library of Congress, Washington, the USA.

Engraving on paper.

Many of William Blake’s paintings are illustrations of his literary works. “The Song of Los” is one of the poems included in the cycle “Prophetic books” in which the author created his fantastic Universe and a complex philosophical system. The engraving depicts Urizen, the Creator of the Universe, who prays in front of the world he has just created. The Creator appears in many works of Blake, symbolizing high power, sometimes inexorable and cruel, imposing prohibitions and punishing. It is noteworthy that Catherine, Blake’s wife, helped him to work on engravings for the “Prophetic Books”; she not only applied colour to the images but also created some drawings herself.