Detail View: Rylands Collection: Job and His Family
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Image Number:
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JRL1215632
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Reference Number:
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R44332
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Link to Catalogue:
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Image Title:
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Job and His Family
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Parent Work Title:
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Illustrations of the Book of Job
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Creator:
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Blake, William, 1757-1827
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Creator Role:
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Illustrator
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Date Created:
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1825
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Publication Details:
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London: Published by William Blake
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Page/Sheet:
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Plate 1
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Image Sequence Number:
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001
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Description:
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Single line engraving in black ink. Job is here depicted by Blake in an open landscape surrounded by a system of signifiers of his virtuous and prosperous life that seemingly adheres to conventional artistic tradition. He is presented in the middle of the confines of familial love. His wife, seven sons and three daughters are gathered around him in positions of pious prayer. They collectively pay devotion to the books that lay open on the knees of Job and his wife - the word of God is the foundation of the nourishment and care of this righteous group. From the cluster of the family springs a huge tree that acts as a canopy for them. The trunk of this tree is adorned with musical instruments: a harp and a lyre symbolise ideas of harmony and concord in their tuneful perfection, and the multitude of horn instruments are evocative of the 'horn-of-plenty', and concurrently, feelings of plenitude, abundance and fecundity. Job and his family are also surrounded by his livestock, the vast number of which acts to reaffirm his prosperity. Some lay in peaceful slumber in the foreground echoing the communal and benevolent interactions of the family, and the rest multiply into the middle distance in a state of grazing and regeneration - flourishing from the land of Job. The background is divided vertically in half by the tree under which Job and his family sit. The left side shows the landscape bathed in the light of day. A blazing sun crests the distant hills and illuminates a magnificent palatial structure.
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Language Code:
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eng-GB
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Subject:
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Bible. Old Testament
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Category of Material:
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Printed
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Sub-Category:
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Illustrated works
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Technique Used:
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Engraving (printing process)
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Medium:
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Ink
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Support:
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Paper
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Item Height:
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194 mm
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Item Width:
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157 mm
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Current Repository:
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The University of Manchester Library, U.K.
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Rights Holder - Image:
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The University of Manchester Library
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Bibliographic Citation:
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Blake, William, 'Illustrations of the Book of Job' (London: published by William Blake, 1825)
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Notes:
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21 leaves of plates. The plate descriptions have been supplied by Simon Spier.
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Date Captured (yyyy-mm-dd):
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2012-03-20
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Multi Page Number:
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50
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Image Creation Technique:
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Digital capture by The University of Manchester Library
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Date Image Added (yyyy-mm):
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2012-07
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Metadata Language:
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eng-GB
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Collection Code:
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Rylands
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