The Artist's Vision

Paul Sandby, The Tide Rising at Briton Ferry, 1773, watercolor over graphite; laid down, Gift of The Circle of the National Gallery of Art, 1988.19.1

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Samuel Palmer, Harvesters by Firelight, 1830, pen and black ink with watercolor and gouache on wove paper, Paul Mellon Collection, 1986.72.12

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Samuel Palmer, The Sleeping Shepherd; Early Morning, 1857, etching, hand-colored with watercolor and opaque white with gold highlights, Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.6711

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George Fennel Robson, A Loch in Scotland, watercolor over graphite on wove paper, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1989.37.1

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John Martin, View on the River Wye, Looking towards Chepstow, 1844, watercolor, gouache, and touches of oil paint (?) over graphite with scraping out, heightened with varnish and/or gum arabic, on wove paper, Gift of The Circle of the National Gallery of Art, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, 1990.87.1

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Sunlight pours across golden-tan colored buildings overgrown with verdant plants in this horizontal watercolor. The main two-story building is to our right on the far side of a grassy lawn. A vine creeps across its façade, and a triangular structure projects up over the front of the building, which faces away from us. A high wall extends to or left and then comes toward us. Copper-brown-leaved trees and dark green plants grow on both sides of the wall and over a shallowly peaked roof, which suggests a more substantial structure that has been lost in the growth. Slate-blue hills are glimpsed in the deep distance to the left of the wall.

John Ruskin, The Garden of San Miniato near Florence, 1845, watercolor and pen and black ink, heightened with white gouache, over graphite on wove paper laid down on thick, white paper, Patrons' Permanent Fund, 1991.88.1

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A nude, muscular man with pale mauve-pink skin and seven human heads straddles a blue-skinned creature with seven beast-like heads in this vertical ink and watercolor illustration. The body of the Great Red Dragon, the creature with mauve skin, and his outstretched, webbed wings nearly fill the composition. The wings are spotted with silver, five-pointed stars. Rams’ horns scroll from his central head and some of the smaller heads to each side. Two of the outer heads have horns like unicorns but the faces are obscured by others in front. He stands with knees slightly bent and feet widely planted on choppy waters. His arms are thrust straight by his sides so the palms face down and the fingers flare outward. Fins jut out from next to his right knee and ankle, to our left. The second creature, the Beast from the Sea, is between the Great Red Dragon’s legs, sunk up to the chest in the white-crested water. The Beast looks up at the Great Red Dragon with all seven, equally sized heads. These heads also have straight or curling horns but exaggerated, thick lips and feline-like noses. The Beast raises both arms so one is in front of one of the Great Red Dragon’s legs and the other is behind. The Beast holds up a flaming sword with the right hand, to our left, and a flaming object, perhaps a scepter or torch, in the other hand. The background behind the pair is inky black. The artist signed the lower right, “WB inv.”

William Blake, The Great Red Dragon and the Beast from the Sea, c. 1805, pen and ink with watercolor over graphite, Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.8997

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William Blake, The Accusers of Theft, Adultery, Murder (War), c. 1794/1796, color-printed etching, Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.8973

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John Dixon after John Hamilton Mortimer, Incantation, 1773, mezzotint on laid paper, Gaillard F. Ravenel and Frances P. Smyth-Ravenel Fund, 2002.65.2

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Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Ariadne, 1863/1864, watercolor and gouache over graphite on smooth wove paper, The Armand Hammer Collection, 1989.2.1

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Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Jane Morris, 1870, pen and iron gall ink with brown wash on laid paper; laid down on paperboard, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1988.29.1

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One woman sits and bends forward, bracing her elbows on her wide-spread knees as a second woman combs her long hair in this vertical black chalk drawing on pale blue paper. Both have straight, strong noses, wide-set eyes, full, rounded lips, and pointed chins in thin faces. The seated woman’s knees are turned to our left, but she turns her head to look over our left shoulder with her lips parted. Her right arm extends almost straight so her hand lies limp beyond her right knee, and she holds an oval hand mirror tucked against her voluminous skirts in her other hand. The bodice and sleeves of her dress have been taken off, and they hang loosely around her waist. Her chemise has short, loose sleeves, and one bare foot peeks out from under her long skirt. A low table next to her shins, to our left, holds toiletries and bottles, and a bed set up on a platform separates her from the back wall of the room. She sits on the edge of the bed near the footboard. The second woman stands on the floor behind the bed and platform, reaching over the footboard to hold up the first woman’s hair with both hands. The second woman’s dress has long, puffy sleeves and a low, square-cut neckline. Her hair is pulled back under a twisted head band. She leans to one side, coming toward us, to look down at the seated woman from over one shoulder. A tree branch whips around the edge of a swirling curtain in the background to the left. To the right are a round shield and short sword, a lit candle in a tall candlestick, and a crucifix. An in scription in chalk in the top left corner of the drawing reads, “Desdemona’s Death-Song.” Along the bottom edge, more writing reads, “46 6/8 x 29 6/8 hanging sleeve more to side clear of dress.”

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Desdemona's Death-Song, 1875/1880, black chalk over traces of red chalk on two joined sheets of blue-green paper, New Century Fund and Paul Mellon Fund, 2005.76.1

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The Artist's Vision: Romantic Traditions in Britain