The Christ Child Asleep on the Cross (Our Lady Adoring the Infant Jesus Asleep on the Cross)

Dating to 1800, the portrait demonstrates the portrait tradition that William Blake helped define. Painted during the tumultuous era of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, the work balances individual likeness with the idealized presentation expected by eighteenth-century patrons. Blake created the work using his distinctive tempera or watercolor technique, combined with his personal mythological vision that placed him outside the mainstream of British art while anticipating later Symboli

Oil on canvas, the portrait demonstrates William Blake's command of skilled technique and careful observation. The careful modeling of the face reveals close study of the sitter's physiognomy, while the treatment of costume and setting projects appropriate social standing.