A tall old man in a robe rises, both hands pointing down.
Bible in art · 1 Samuel
The Ghost of Samuel Appearing to Saul
William Blake · c. 1800
National Gallery of Art, Washington
A watercolour of about 1800, from the years of William Blake’s long series of Bible pictures for his patron Thomas Butts; the old mount names the chapter and verses.
Samuel rises in the middle, a tall old man in a robe, pointing downwards with both hands. Saul kneels back in terror at the left, two companions staring behind him; at the right the medium of Endor crouches with her arms over her head.
From the text
- The woman sees Samuel and cries out (1 Samuel 28:12)
- “An old man is coming up … he is wearing a robe” (1 Samuel 28:14)
- Saul’s servants who had found the medium (1 Samuel 28:7)
The artist’s own
- The medium’s hair standing up like flames
- Saul kneeling back in fear — the text says he bowed facedown (1 Samuel 28:14)
Details
Samuel
Saul
Saul kneels back, staring, hands raised.
His companions
Two frightened faces look out behind him.
The medium
She crouches, arms over her head, hair like flames.
William Blake, British, 1757–1827. National Gallery of Art, Washington (Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.8996) · Pen and ink with watercolor over graphite · NGA Open Access: "Images of these works are available free of charge for any use, commercial or non-commercial, under Creative Commons Zero (CC0)." (NGA open data: published_images.csv openaccess = 1)