The Ancient of Days

Artist
William Blake
Year
1794
Medium
Relief etching with watercolor
Public Domain Wikimedia Commons

A muscular figure crouches within a blazing sun, measuring the world with a compass. Serving as the frontispiece to the illuminated book Europe a Prophecy, this iconic image has become one of the most recognized works of the English Romantic period, embodying Blake’s vision of divine creative energy constrained by material limitation.