49. 1803.—'I was naked.' 'Unto Adam and his Wife did the Lord God make coats of skins.' [Butts.]
'The Angel of the Divine Presence' (so phrased by Blake) encircles with downward arms Adam and Eve, both of whom clasp hands of humble gratitude: the Eve is exquisitely modest. Palm-trees over-canopy the group; an altar burns at each side. Very fine in quality, though the execution, especially in the figures, is not carried far.
50. 1803.—Ruth, the dutiful Daughter-in-law. [Butts.]
Extremely beautiful: the figures of Ruth herself and Naomi, the former clasping the latter round the waist, could not be designed with a more noble and pure simplicity. Orpah turns back. There is a good deal of landscape material in the background, of a rather primitive kind, yet pleasing.
51. *Circa 1803 (?).—Satan calling up his Legions—Paradise Lost. Tempera. See p. 159, Vol. II.
Blake terms this and Nos. 81 and 82 'Experiment Pictures.' All of them, it would seem, were free from oil-vehicle. Date conjectured, as in the case of No. 33. A highly finished and noble work.
52. Circa 1804 (?).—The same. Tempera.
Referred to at p. 159, Vol. II. An elaborate, fine, and richly-coloured example, now half-ruined. The Satan, a nude figure standing on a rock, is not like the Fuseli type in such subjects. The composition is full of figures, flames, and rocks.
53. 1804.—*Thomas Hayley. Tempera, or possibly oil.
The son of William Hayley, and pupil of Flaxman. Medallion portrait, life-size.
54. 1804 (?).—Thomas Hayley. Sepia.
Carefully finished. Full-faced, finger on chin. Has been bound into a MS. of Cunningham's 'Life of Blake.'
55. 1804.—A Man at an Anvil talking to a Spirit.
Published in the 'Jerusalem.'
56. 1804.—Three personages, one of them crowned, sunk in despondency.
Published in the 'Jerusalem,' p. 51; lugubrious in colour. In the water-colour, this very characteristic design has the names 'Vala, Hyle, Skofeld,' written under the figures—Vala being the crowned one. Might the name Skofeld be derived from the soldier Scholfield, who laid an information against Blake for seditious words? Given in Vol. I. Chap. XXI.
57. 1804.—The same design as the preceding. [Linnell.]
Of larger size, and without the names. Very good.
58. 1805.—'After these things came Jesus and His disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.'—John iii. 22. [Butts]. Water-colour with pen outline.
