Christ Blessing - William Blake
Archival giclée
Ready to hang
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Made to order
Description
A serene tempera portrait of Christ by British visionary artist William Blake, featuring a balanced composition and muted, earthy tones.
William Blake, a visionary British poet and artist, produced this tempera painting during a period of intense focus on biblical themes. The work depicts a frontal, symmetrical portrait of Christ, his right hand raised in a gesture of benediction while his left rests upon his chest. Blake employs a muted, earthy palette that draws attention to the central figure, whose expression is direct and calm. The background features two stylised trees, which frame the subject and provide a sense of enclosure without suggesting a deep, realistic space. Blake often utilised tempera, a medium he famously experimented with throughout his career, to achieve a specific luminosity and texture. The application of paint here is controlled, reflecting his preference for clear outlines and defined forms over the atmospheric blurring favoured by many of his contemporaries. The figure of Christ is rendered with a deliberate simplicity, avoiding excessive ornamentation to maintain a focus on the spiritual nature of the subject. The linear quality of the drapery and the facial features aligns with Blake's broader artistic philosophy, which prioritised the clarity of the imagination over the imitation of nature. This piece demonstrates Blake's unique approach to religious iconography, moving away from traditional academic representations toward a more personal, symbolic visual language. The composition is balanced and static, inviting quiet contemplation. By placing the figure against a neutral, golden-toned backdrop, Blake removes the scene from a specific historical setting, allowing the image to function as a timeless icon. The work remains a clear example of his technical process and his ability to synthesise classical influences with his own idiosyncratic style, resulting in an image that is both accessible and deeply characteristic of his oeuvre.
Return policy
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. EU customers have a 14-day cooling-off right. See our refunds page for full details.
Shipping
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.
Christ Blessing - William Blake
Our Features
Designed for Lasting Impact
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
- Choose poster, framed print, canvas or framed canvas
- 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
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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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