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Creator:
William Blake, 1757–1827
Title:

The Poems of Thomas Gray, Design 53, "The Bard."

Additional Title(s):

Verso: The Poems of Thomas Gray, Design 54, "The Bard."

Part Of:

Collective Title: The Poems of Thomas Gray

Date:
between 1797 and 1798
Medium:
Watercolor with pen and black ink and graphite on moderately thick, slightly textured, cream wove paper with inlaid letterpress page
Dimensions:
Sheet: 16 1/2 x 12 3/4 inches (41.9 x 32.4 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:

Inscribed in black ink upper right: "1"; on verso in black ink upper left: "2"

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1992.8.11(27)
Classification:
Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
animal art | beard | bird | bodies | broken | dead | figurehead | flames | gown | harp | hawks | leaf | literary theme | lyre | man | men | religious and mythological subject | rocks (landforms) | stars | text | trees | water
Access:
Accessible by appointment in the Study Room [Request]
Note: The Study Room is open by appointment. Please visit the Study Room page on our website for more details.
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:3643
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Thomas Gray’s poem “The Bard,” published in 1757, imagines a confrontation between the English conqueror Edward I and the last bard of Wales. Edward has ordered the Welsh bards put to death in order to suppress their telling of history. The Bard curses Edward and prophesies his ultimate defeat upon the return of Welsh rule, before throwing himself into the river Conway, a final act of defiance. The poem became extremely popular, helping to create an idea of Welsh mountains as synonymous with liberty.

Gallery label for Art in Focus: Wales (Yale Center for British Art, 2014-04-04 - 2014-08-10)

Art in Focus : Wales (Yale Center for British Art, 2014-04-04 - 2014-08-10) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

William Blake (Tate Britain, 2000-11-02 - 2001-02-04) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Colin Cross, Blake revealed, William Blake : Discovery of a Masterwork , Observer, vol. 12, November 21, 1971, pp. 19-23, V 1245 Detached from Observer colour magazine [ORBIS]

John Russell, Blake the Craftsman, Art , Sunday Times, Issue no. 7749, December 12, 1971, p. 27, Sunday Times Digital Archive [ORBIS]

Arnold Fawcus, Unknown Watercolours by William Blake, Illustrated London News, vol. 259, No. 6881, December 25, 1971, pp. 45-46, 49-51, Illustrated London News Historical Archive [ORBIS]

Yale Center for British Art, Wales, New Haven, 2014, p. 21, V2519 (YCBA) [YCBA]


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