Smarthistory – William Blake, The Spiritual Form of Nelson Guiding Leviathan
William Blake, The spiritual form of Nelson guiding Leviathan, in whose wreathings are infolded the Nations of the Earth, c. 1805–09, tempera on canvas 30″ x 24″ / 76.2 x 62.5 cm (Tate Britain, London) William Blake occupies a unique position in art history in that he was both a major artist and a major poet. Often the two went hand-in-hand, his art illustrating his poetry, or if not his, the poetry of others. I suppose, then, for me, what makes this such an intriguing example of his work is the fact that here, unusually for Blake, the subject is not drawn from any literary source, but from contemporary history. The spiritual form of Nelson guiding Leviathan was first shown in his solo exhibition of 1809, held at his brother’s house in London’s Soho; a site, incidentally, that also served as the family shop, selling women’s stockings. The reviews were mostly negative, one famously describing the paintings as “the wild effusions of a distempered brain.” Not everyone hated it, though, an
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