32. 1799(?).—St. Mark. [Butts.] Tempera (?).
33. 1799.—St. Luke. [Butts.] Tempera.
He holds a pen, and is accompanied by the typical bull. Almost destroyed in surface. This picture, being dated, may be presumed to fix the date of the three companion-figures.
34. 1799 (?).—St. John. [Butts.] Tempera (?).
35. 1799.—The child Christ taught by the Virgin to read. [Butts.] Tempera.
An inferior specimen.
36. Circa 1799 (?).—'A spirit vaulting from a cloud
To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus.'
Shakespeare.
Unfinished. See p. 158, Vol. II., Blake's Descriptive Catalogue and No. 79.
The date is conjectured, from the statement (as above) that the work, one of Blake's first 'frescoes,' was painted many years before the date of the Catalogue (1809).
37. 1800.—The Crucifixion—the Soldiers casting lots for the Garments. [Butts.]
Peculiarly treated—the Crucified Saviour, with the two thieves, being seen from behind, and the ground which lies before the cross appearing beyond. Very poetic, pictorial, and solemn in darkling effect. The soldiers form the foreground group, and have plenty of character and varied action. See p. 161, Vol. II.
38. Circa 1801.—*Eighteen Heads of the Poets. Tempera, or possibly oil. See p. 166, Vol. I.
These heads are nearly life-size, each painted on a separate canvas; the heads themselves almost or quite colourless, with the character of sculptural busts, the accessories mostly coloured, within decorative limits, and illustrative of the author's genius or works. An interesting series.
(a) Homer.
Younger than he is usually represented, and full of life; one of the finest of the set, the colour well harmonised. Bay-wreath. Curiously enough, the illustrative accessories selected are the Mouse and Frog, very cleverly done, indicating no higher achievement in poetry than the Batrachomyomachia.
(b) Euripides, or another of the Greek Tragedians.
A good head. Oak-wreath. Accessories from classic legend.
(c) Lucan.
Accessories—Cæsar, and the Decapitation of Pompey.
(d) Dante.
Vivid and grand: wreath and framing of bay, fine in decorative arrangement. Accessory, Ugolino.
(e) Chaucer.
Accessories, the Wife of Bath, &c.
