The Holy Family (Christ in the Lap of Truth)
Medium
black, gray, and brown ink applied with pen and point of brush; gray, pink, yellow, and green wash
Dimensions
37.9 × 32.5 cm
Classification
Drawing
Department
Drawings
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1950.239
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this 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 rig...