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The Angel Appearing to Zacharias

1799–1800
Not on view
Blake devoted much of the year 1799–1800 to fifty biblical scenes drawn, a commission he received from his principal patron, the government clerk Thomas Butts. About thirty of these works have been identified; it is thought that some have not survived owing to the fragility of the materials. This scene illustrates verses from Luke (I:11–13), in which the archangel Gabriel appears to the righteous Zacharias, a high priest of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, to announce that Zacharias’s elderly and barren wife will give birth to a son, Saint John the Baptist.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Angel Appearing to Zacharias
  • Artist: William Blake (British, London 1757–1827 London)
  • Date: 1799–1800
  • Medium: Pen and black ink, tempera, and glue size on canvas
  • Dimensions: 10 1/2 x 15 in. (26.7 x 38.1 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of William Church Osborn, 1951
  • Object Number: 51.30.1
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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"The Beggar's Opera" by Hogarth and Blake: A Portfolio Compiled by Wilmarth S. Lewis and Philip Hofer
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The Day of Judgment, from "The Grave," a Poem by Robert Blair
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