Art, Symbol & Imagination
The bearded figure beneath the rock
A white-bearded figure folds its knees beneath an overhanging rock, the narrow shelter pressing closely around its back. Blake’s poem describes the hardening of a bounded material world, which offers a possible context for the confined body. The design itself has no printed caption establishing a particular verse or naming the figure.
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Citation
William Blake. "The bearded figure beneath the rock" [editorial title]. In The Book of Urizen, William Blake. undated edition. Source scan leaf 4. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/art-urizen-rock
Source details
Editorial title and description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
The supplied scan has no descriptive caption. Its digital edition remains undated; the Copy G comparison does not establish the date of this facsimile.
Sources
From the book
The Book of UrizenWilliam BlakeUndated editionMore from this book
The illuminated title page of The Book of Urizen
The windswept prelude to The First Book of Urizen
Outstretched arms above Urizen’s opening chaptersRelated illustrations
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William Blake. The bearded figure beneath the rock. The Book of Urizen. Scan leaf 4. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/art-urizen-rock