The Nativity

Blake's Nativity of around 1790 dates from his early period when he was still primarily known as a commercial engraver and illustrator. Even at this stage, his religious subjects departed radically from the devotional conventions of the Anglican church, drawing instead on his reading of Swedenborg, Boehme, and the Bible in its most visionary register. Characteristic of Blake's approach, the work displays linear, symbolic, visionary imagery combining Michelangelesque figures with personal mythology.

The watercolor and pen technique shows Blake's characteristic emphasis on firm, rhythmic outline over tonal modeling, with color applied in transparent washes that create a luminous, ethereal quality suited to the supernatural subject.