A tall robed figure stands in rays of light.
Bible in art · Job
The Book of Job, plate 17: I have heard thee with the hearing of the Ear but now my Eye seeth thee
William Blake · 1825
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Plate 17 of William Blake’s Job engravings (1825). Job answers the voice from the whirlwind.
Blake shows the moment as a meeting: a robed figure in rays of light lays his hands over the heads of Job and his wife, while the friends turn away in the shadows. The lower border looks like open books, filled with tiny lines from the Gospel of John.
From the text
- “My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You” (Job 42:5)
- “I repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6)
The artist’s own
- A figure laying his hands over Job and his wife
- Open books with lines from John in the border
Details
In the light
Job and his wife
They kneel, his hands stretched over their heads.
The friends
They crouch and turn their faces away.
Open books
The bottom border is drawn as books and scrolls full of text.
William Blake, British, 1757–1827. The Cleveland Museum of Art (Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Prasse Collection, 1963.303.18) · 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/).