The Book of Job, plate 18: And my Servant Job shall pray for you

William Blake · 1825
The Cleveland Museum of Art

Plate 18 of William Blake’s Job engravings (1825). The friends bring their burnt offering, and Job prays for them.

Job stands at a stone altar with arms spread, a tall flame rising before him into rays of light; his wife and friends kneel on either side. At the bottom of the border Blake engraved his own tools — a palette, brushes and a burin — next to his signature.

From the text

“sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you” (Job 42:8)

“the LORD accepted Job’s request” (Job 42:9)

Job prayed for his friends (Job 42:10)

The artist’s own

A palette, brushes and an engraver’s burin in the border

Sheaves of wheat in the corners

Details

Job at the altar

Seen from behind, he stands with his arms spread.

The flame

A tall flame rises from the altar into a disc of rays.

The friends

They kneel with their faces down.

Blake’s tools

A palette with brushes and an engraver’s burin beside his name.

William Blake, British, 1757–1827. The Cleveland Museum of Art (Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Prasse Collection, 1963.303.19) · Engraving (proof impression) · Cleveland Museum of Art Open Access: Collection API record "share_license_status": "CC0" (Creative Commons Zero, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/).