The Great Red Dragon and the Beast from the Sea

The Great Red Dragon and the Beast from the Sea continues Blake's Revelation series, depicting the alliance of evil forces from Chapter 13. Blake's unique vision of biblical apocalypse draws on both his intensive study of scripture and his personal mystical experiences to create images of cosmic struggle that transcend conventional religious illustration. Blake's highly personal technique — combining watercolor, tempera, and sometimes relief etching — was inseparable from his visionary content; he worked outside the academic tradition, selling relatively little in his lifetime while creating some of the most original art of the Romantic era. The series of Revelation illustrations represents Blake at his most fearless — willing to confront the most violent and disturbing imagery in the biblical canon and render it with an intensity that conventional religious art habitually softened. The Rosenwald Collection's preservation of these works recognizes their importance both as religious art and as the defining achievement of an artist who was largely unrecognized in his lifetime.

The powerful, muscular figures are drawn with Blake's characteristic linear precision, the dramatic composition creating a sense of cosmic struggle through bold forms and luminous color.