The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun

Title

The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun (Rev. 12: 1-4)

Maker

William Blake

Nationality, dates

British, 1757–1827

Date

c. 1803–1805

Medium

Black ink and watercolor over traces of graphite and incised lines on wove paper

Dimensions

Image 43.7 × 34.8 cm (17 3/16 × 13 11/16 in); sheet with inlay 55.1 × 43.3 cm (21 11/16 × 17 1/16 in)

Signed

Monogram “WB inv”, bottom right

Inscribed

Verses from Revelation 12 above and below the image, with the reference “Revns:ch:12th: v 4th:” below the image at right

Text

Book of Revelation, chapter 12, verses 1–4

Commissioned by

Thomas Butts, Blake’s patron, as part of a series of pictures from the Bible

Series

One of four watercolors by Blake featuring the Great Red Dragon, and the only one in which the dragon’s back dominates the composition

Credit line

Gift of William Augustus White

Display

Light-sensitive. Shown only for short periods, with long rests in dark storage.

Held by

Brooklyn Museum, New York (15.368). Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Brooklyn Museum.

Rights

Public domain. Image source: Wikimedia Commons, “Reddragon.jpg” (2016 color-adjusted revision, PD-Art). The holding museum marks the work “No known copyright restrictions.”

William Blake painted this watercolor for Thomas Butts, a government clerk and his most faithful patron. Butts commissioned a series of Bible pictures from him. This one illustrates Revelation 12. A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, is about to give birth. A great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns stands before her, waiting to devour her child as soon as it is born.

Blake painted the dragon in four watercolors. Only in this one does the beast’s back dominate the picture. He places the viewer behind the dragon, facing the muscled back, the spread wings and the crowned, horned heads. At his feet, the woman lies in a blaze of light.

In Thomas Harris’s 1981 novel Red Dragon, the killer eats this sheet. The real one is safe. Its inks, paint and paper are sensitive to light, so it goes on view only for short spells, with long rests in dark storage between. The sheet also carries verses from Revelation, inscribed above and below the picture. The blanket shows the picture alone.

“A Woman clothed with the sun, & the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars; and behold a great red dragon also.”

inscription above the picture, from Revelation 12

• Woven blanket, 100% cotton, with colorful fringed edges
• Three sizes: 52 × 37 in (132 × 94 cm), 60 × 50 in (152 × 127 cm), 80 × 60 in (203 × 152 cm)
• Size tolerance ±2.5 in (about 6 cm)
• Hang it as a wall tapestry (hanging hardware not included), or use it on a sofa or bed
• Woven threads soften fine linework; colors and texture differ slightly from the screen image
• Catalogue N° 012 · The Noha Studio

• Machine wash cold, max 30°C / 86°F
• Gentle cycle, mild detergent
• Non-chlorine bleach only if needed
• Tumble dry low

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