''Pity'' (c. 1795) is a colour print on paper, finished in ink and

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

, by the English artist and poet

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of t ...

, one of the group known as the "Large Colour Prints". Along with his other works of this period, it was influenced by the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

, Milton, and

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. The work is unusual, as it is a literal illustration of a double simile from ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'', found in the lines: :And pity, like a naked new-born babe, :Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, hors'd :Upon the sightless couriers of the air. :- ''Macbeth'' (1.7.21–23) Like other members of the group it is a

monotype Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The ...

produced by printing from a matrix consisting of paint on

gesso Gesso (; "chalk", from the la, gypsum, from el, γύψος) is a white paint mixture consisting of a binder mixed with chalk, gypsum, pigment, or any combination of these. It is used in painting as a preparation for any number of substrates suc ...

ed millboard, with each impression then finished by hand. By this unusual means Blake could obtain up to three impressions from a single painting. Three such impressions survive of ''Pity''. A fourth, in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, was an early trial of the design from a different matrix, as it is smaller than the others.

Interpretations

Martin Butlin wrote that this colour print is one of the most inspired of all 'literal' illustrations of a text in the

history of art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetics, ae ...

. In fact, "

pity Pity is a sympathetic sorrow evoked by the suffering of others, and is used in a comparable sense to ''compassion'', ''condolence'' or ''empathy'' – the word deriving from the Latin ''pietas'' (etymon also of ''piety''). Self-pity is pity ...

and air", two words of the Shakespeare's verses, are also two motifs used by Blake in this picture: a female cherub leans down to snatch the baby from its mother. According to Blake biographer

Alexander Gilchrist Alexander Gilchrist (182830 November 1861), an English author, is known mainly as a biographer of William Etty and of William Blake. Gilchrist's biography of Blake is still a standard reference work about the poet. Gilchrist was born at Newingto ...

, the print "is on a tolerably large scale, a woman bending down to succour a man stretched out at length, as if given over to death." ''Pity'' is seen as in opposition to Blake's print '' The Night of Enitharmon's Joy'' (c. 1795) — which shows a

Hecate Hecate or Hekate, , ; grc-dor, Ἑκάτᾱ, Hekátā, ; la, Hecatē or . is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, snakes, or accompanied by dogs, and in later periods depict ...

surrounded by fantastic creatures and macabre elements of a

nightmare A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety or great sadness. The dream may contain situations of ...

— because it provides a "possibility of

salvation Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its ...

" in the fallen world through pity. Both prints refer to ''Macbeth''. As Nicholas Rawlinson has noted, the play was undergoing a major revival in popularity at the time, being performed nine times in 1795. It is a

personification Personification occurs when a thing or abstraction is represented as a person, in literature or art, as a type of anthropomorphic metaphor. The type of personification discussed here excludes passing literary effects such as "Shadows hold their ...

of a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

element that some critics argue was a negative

virtue Virtue ( la, virtus) is morality, moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is Value (ethics), valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that sh ...

for Blake, since pity is associated with "the failure of inspiration and a further dividing" and also "linked by alliteration and capitalization". It is also a part of Blake's mythology, in which a sexually frustrated

Tharmas In the mythological writings of William Blake, Tharmas is one of the four Zoas, who were created when Albion, the primordial man, was divided fourfold. He represents sensation, and his female counterpart is Enion In the mythological writings of W ...

becomes "a terror to all living things", although the emotion inherent in him is pity. Other Blake characters have this feeling, and his mythology is developed between the confrontation of a

feminine Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered fe ...

"Pity" and a

masculine Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors ...

fiery, as happens in the brutal suppression of desire in Urizen. Some critics see a connection between ''Pity'' and the "hypnotic and helpless state" of

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

' ''

The Wind Among the Reeds William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

'' (1899).

Versions

William Blake - Pity - Google Art Project

The print exists in four versions from two different matrices. The most elaborate and best-known version of the print is in the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, sometimes described as the only finished one. It was presented by W. Graham Robertson to the gallery in 1939, and is catalogued as "Butlin 310". A unique "proof print" is in the

(Butlin 313). It is "significantly smaller than the final version of the design" and depicts the supine figure "partially covered in vegetation" in the form of sweeping fronds of long grass. Another version of the image is in the collection of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. This is not as elaborately worked as the Tate print. It was donated by Mrs. Robert W. Goelet in 1958. A lightly retouched version at the

Yale Center for British Art Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

also exists, somewhat yellowed by varnish. According to The Wiliam Blake Archive, "The characteristics of the color printing indicate that this impression is the first one printed from the larger matrix in 1795. The second impression in this printing is ''Pity'' in the Tate Collection (Butlin 310); the third impression is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Butlin 311)."Morris Eaves, Robert Essick, Joseph Viscomi, et al The William Blake Archive
/ref>

References

External links

''Pity'' by William Blake
Page on

official website.
Tate Learning
Artists in Focus: William Blake in Tate official website. {{Macbeth Art by William Blake William Blake's mythology Romantic paintings 1795 prints Collection of the Tate galleries Prints and drawings in the British Museum Paintings in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Watercolor paintings Paintings based on works by William Shakespeare Works based on Macbeth