Blake at the gates of hell

[jack_babalon]

"Here he is - reach me my things - I shall keep my eye on him. There he comes! his ever eager tongue whisking out of his mouth, a cup in his hands to hold blood and covered with a scaly skin of gold and green." ~William Blake


William Blake
Ghost of a flea
1819


William Blake & fellow artist and friend William Varley, would indulge in the occasional seance or two. Blake used these excursions into the spirit world as an artistic exercises; sketching portraits and profiles live from the land of the dead. During one of these visitations into the spiritrealm Blake ran into a 'malign' presence, which declared itself the 'Ghost of a Flea'. "Blake claimed that, while he was sketching the flea, it had explained to him that fleas were inhabited by the souls of bloodthirsty men. These bloodthirsty men were confined to the bodies of small insects, because if they were the size of horses, they would drink so much blood that most of the country would be depopulated."
~ Tate Gallery, UK
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/blakeinteractive/imagin/cast_02.html

Comments

[vomikronnoxis.livejournal.com]

I love Blake's work and that pic has always been a favorite of mine.

Now compare it to THIS:

[jackbabalon23.livejournal.com]

That looks like something in Joe Coleman's mueseum of oddities.
You have a good knack for visual segues, no matter you &
girlsonfilm get along so well.

[jackbabalon23.livejournal.com]

matter = wonder
btw

[vomikronnoxis.livejournal.com]

That little guy is from some mueseum in Washington D.C. that Myspace entity and Dee Verbick friend "McKinley" visited. I can't remember the name however.

~rl