'The Simoniac Pope', William Blake

Artwork details

Artist

William Blake (1757‑1827)

Title

The Simoniac Pope

From Illustrations to Dante's 'Divine Comedy'

Date 1824-7

MediumInk and watercolour on paper

Dimensionssupport: 527 x 368 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Purchased with the assistance of a special grant from the National Gallery and donations from the Art Fund, Lord Duveen and others, and presented through the the Art Fund 1919

Reference

N03357

Not on display

Display caption

In Hell, Dante and Virgil meet those guilty of simony (buying or selling ecclesiastical preferment). Like all simoniacs, Pope Nicholas III is punished by being suspended head downwards in a well of fire.

The paper is watermarked ‘W ELGAR 1794’, the year it was produced. It was then bound into book form. The parallel lines in the paper show it is ‘laid’. This means it has more texture than Blake generally used, but the weight of the book would have flattened it. The two sides of the paper have different textures: Blake used both sides for his illustrations.

September 2004