Christ in the House of Mary and Martha

Christ in the House of Mary and Martha from 1827 by William Blake illustrates the New Testament episode in which Jesus visits the sisters of Lazarus. Blake's treatment transforms the domestic scene into a meditation on the relative claims of contemplative and active life. The work belongs to Blake's sustained engagement with spiritual and mythological themes, executed in watercolor with the meticulous, jewel-like intensity that characterized his private illuminated works.

The figures are rendered with Blake's characteristic linear precision, the domestic setting simplified to focus on the spiritual dynamics between Christ and the two sisters.