Talks on British Painting

Under the inspiration of English history Blake worked on elaborate historical compositions, one of which is "The Penance of Jane Shore". As the mistress of Edward I Y she was forced to walk in penance in St. Paul's Church. Critics had no high opinion of this production, Anthony Blunt wrote: "As a painter, if he had died at the age of thirty, Blake would be thought of as a minor and rather incompetent member of a group of artists in revolt against Sir Joshua Reynolds and the official doctrine of the Royal Academy". Blake himself thought well of this work. For us i t is important to understand that Blake sought inspiration in history, making particular use of events in the Middle Ages. At the end of his seven years' apprenticeship Blake started earning his living as an engraver. Soon he married Catherine, an illiterate daughter of a market gardener. He married beneath him. His father who had done everything to support his gifted son, was displeased. William married her because his passion to a dark-eyed girl hadn't been answered, as she was his social superior: I curse my stars in bitter grief and woe, That made my love so high, and me so low. It was an unhappy marriage, Catherine bored him and she was childless. Still, in their later years Mr. and Mrs. Blake lived in a simple harmony which won the respect of those young painters for whom Blake was a master not only in painting but of the good life. Blake is influenced by a Greek culture as well. He often disguises Greek themes in Gothic modern dress. The dramatic poem "Tiriel" is a strange blend of Greek themes w i t h Rousseaus's new theories of education. The figure of Tiriel has many affinities w i t h Oedipus. The plot of "Tiriel Supporting Myratana" suggests the conflict between aged Oedipus and the sons whom he cursed. I n classical mythology Oedipus is a tragic king who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother. King Laius of Thebes, a city in Greece, was predicted to be killed by his son. T...