John Milton (1608–1674)
William Blake (1757–1827) was a visionary, mystic, poet, painter, and engraver, who illustrated and printed his own works. The jewel-like aesthetic of his hand-printed volumes was an expression of defiance against the impersonal, mass-produced monochrome of standard book publishing. Blake revered Milton from an early age. He learnt long passages of Paradise Lost by heart and engaged with Milton’s works throughout his life, repeatedly illustrating and re-interpreting them. Blake completed two very similar sets of watercolours for Paradise Lost, in 1807 and in 1808. The second set of 1808, which is somewhat brighter in palette than the first, is represented here.