“A History of Art & Science”: William Blake’s Last Judgment

Abstract

This article reads William Blake’s lost tempera of the Last Judgment as a serious contribution to the tradition of academic history painting. I argue that the so-called Rosenwald drawing (c. 1809) should be understood as a cartone (preparatory design) for that history, which was conceived on a monumental scale and originally intended as a public, visionary fresco. In applying the term “history” to Blake’s tempera paintings, I am expanding the traditional definition of the term—which denotes large-scale, mythological narrative paintings in the grand style—to accommodate his visionary subject matter and Gothic style. Reading the extant Last Judgment paintings in tandem with Blake’s tractate A Vision of the Last Judgment (1809–10), I show how Blake radicalizes the genre of history painting, turning it away from civic morality and toward visionary truth, by rejecting naturalism and linear visual narrative. By situating Blake within the context of grand fine-art practice, this essay contributes to the ongoing scholarly effort to reframe his legacy as a fine artist.