Man with Wings - William Blake
Archival giclée
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Description
A classic engraving by William Blake from his 1797 illustrations for Edward Young's Night Thoughts, featuring a winged figure in motion.
This engraving is a plate from the ambitious 1797 edition of Edward Young's poem, Night Thoughts, illustrated by William Blake. The project was commissioned by the publisher Richard Edwards, who sought to pair Young's meditative verse with visual interpretations. Blake produced a series of watercolours, which were then engraved to accompany the printed text.
The image depicts a figure in a dynamic, forward-leaning posture, equipped with expansive wings. The composition integrates the figure directly with the printed text block, a hallmark of Blake's approach to book design. The figure's anatomy is rendered with precise, controlled lines, reflecting the neoclassical influence prevalent in late eighteenth-century British printmaking. The hatching techniques used to define the musculature and the texture of the wings demonstrate the technical skill required for copperplate engraving.
Blake's work on Night Thoughts represents a period of intense creative output. He often used the margins of the page to expand upon the themes of the text, creating a dialogue between the written word and the visual image. In this instance, the figure appears to be in motion, perhaps representing the passage of time or the flight of the soul, themes central to Young's poem. The stark, monochromatic nature of the engraving focuses the viewer's attention on the form and the relationship between the human figure and the surrounding space. This print offers a glimpse into the collaborative nature of eighteenth-century publishing and the unique vision Blake brought to his literary commissions.
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Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. See our refunds page for full details.
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We ship worldwide, printing at the production hub nearest to your delivery address. Delivery times and costs vary by destination — you'll see the options available to you at checkout.
Manufacturing
Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Man with Wings - William Blake
Artist Biography
William Blake
He married Catherine Boucher in 1782. She was illiterate at the time and signed the marriage register with an X. He taught her to read, write, and engrave, and she became his collaborator for the next forty-five years: mixing paint, operating the printing press, hand-colouring plates, and binding the finished pages into covers.
Their working method was Blake's own invention, revealed to him (he said) in a dream by the spirit of his dead brother Robert. Relief etching reversed the standard printmaking process: instead of cutting lines into copper, Blake wrote and drew on the plate in acid-resistant varnish, then dissolved the surrounding metal with acid, leaving text and image raised. This allowed him to compose poetry and illustration simultaneously on a single plate, print them together, then hand-colour each sheet in watercolour. Every copy was therefore unique. Songs of Innocence and of Experience was produced this way. He sold fewer than thirty copies during his lifetime.
In 1803, he physically threw a soldier named John Schofield out of his garden in Felpham. He was charged with assault and with uttering treasonable expressions against the King. He was acquitted at the Chichester assizes in January 1804.
Newton, painted in 1795, shows the scientist as a young man with the body of a Greek god, bent forward at the bottom of a dark ocean, fixing his gaze on a pair of compasses, measuring and drawing on a scroll that appears to project from his own head. It is a painting about the limits of reason: beautiful, precise, and missing everything beyond the edge of the paper. The Ancient of Days, from the same period, depicts his mythological figure Urizen crouching at the edge of a void, reaching down with a compass to measure the darkness below.
He died on 12 August 1827, working on illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy. He was buried at Bunhill Fields. The wider recognition came decades later.
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