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The Artist's Vision: Romantic Traditions in Britain

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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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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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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