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The Holy Family (Christ in the Lap of Truth)
Also known as: Christ in the Lap of Truth
About the Artwork
Although he rejected institutionalized religion, Blake was intensely spiritual, and much of his art was inspired by a highly personal reading of the Bible or by literature based upon it, such as John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667). The Virgin Mary is centered in this highly stylized composition. Upon her lap she clasps the infant Christ whose outstretched arms foreshadow the Crucifixion. The Mother and Child are flanked by Saint Joseph on the left, and Saint Anne (the Virgin’s mother), on the right. Below, Saint John the Baptist, who foretold Christ’s death and resurrection, plays with a lamb.
Inscriptions
signed, lower right, in black ink: [artist's monogram:8 inv / wb]; verso, upper center, in graphite: G [collector's mark? (not in Lugt)]; across bottom, in graphite: no. 9 [S?]ingle; across bottom, in graphite: The Holy Family / Jesus-Mary-Joseph-Elizabeth + St. John; lower center, in graphite: 50/ [7?]
Provenance
after 1805-by 1845: Thomas Butts [1757-1845], London probably after 1845-by 1853: Thomas Butts Jr. 1853: (his sale, Property of Thomas Butts, Esq., Messrs. Foster and Son, London, June 29, 1853, no. 127, sold to Henry George Bohn) 1853-?: Henry George Bohn [1796-1884], London ?-1901: Alexander Anderdon Weston [1822-1901; Lugt 65], by descent to his widow 1901-1904: Mrs. Alexander Anderdon Weston 1904: (her anonymous sale, Christie's, London, June 28, 1904, no. 5, sold to E. Parsons) 1904: E. Parsons, sold to W. Graham Robertson 1904-1949: W. Graham Robertson [1866-1948], London 1949: (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd., London, July 22, 1949, no. 24, probably sold to Thomas Agnew and Sons, London) 1949-1950: (Thomas Agnew and Sons, London, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) 1950-: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
77th Annual Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings. Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London (organizer). The Art of William Blake. National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (organizer) (October 19-December 1, 1957). Aspects of Drawing. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 10-April 2, 1961). Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 11-September 10, 1963). European Watercolors Through the 18th Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 14-March 22, 1964). Neo-classicism: Style and Motif. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 23-October 31, 1964). Rococo, Revolution, Restoration. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 11-September 24, 1989). Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002). British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- William Blake (British, 1757–1827)
- Date
- c. 1805
- Medium
- black, gray, and brown ink applied with pen and point of brush; gray, pink, yellow, and green wash
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 37.9 x 32.5 cm (14 15/16 x 12 13/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Accession no.
- 1950.239
More by William Blake in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 7, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00000337
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