ford madox brown - eTheses Repository - University of Birmingham

Pickering. 93 Of the three it seems more likely that Brown would have been more
interested in the earlier books as their subject matter was closer to The Ascension. In
particular the frontispiece to Leonora (Fig. 49) contains figures in similar positions to
those in his composition with supernatural figures flying in the air and earth-bound
ghouls staring up at the spectacle like the apostles witnessing Christ's ascent. In fact
the face of the central apostle looking up, is in the same pose as on the second ghoul
from the right in Blake's illustration. However, in comparison to Brown's classically
muscular angels the airborne ghosts seem rotund and grotesque. The angels seem
closer to those found in the later illustrations to The Grave. The religious nature of
Blair's poem matches the subject matter of The Ascension, and Blake's designs, full of
muscular bodies, depict Christ, angels and heaven. The winged angels in the top tier
of The Day of Judgment (Fig. 50) resemble those in the same position in The
Ascension. 94 The depiction of the soul in The Soul hovering over the Body reluctantly
parting with Life (Fig. 51) and the angels in The Meeting of a Family in Heaven (Fig.
52) are both similar to the angels found in cat. no. 5 and 7 with feminine features,
wavy hair and long, white robes. With similarities such as these it is not possible to
dismiss Brown's interest in Blake and in the 1830s, when Brown was a student, 'Blake
was a recognisable name, associated with a group of historical painters (Barry, Fuseli)
and illustrators (Stothard, Flaxman) who were among the most respected British
artists of their generation.' 95
93 Gottfried August Buerger, Leonora. A Tale, translated and altered from the German by J. T. Stanley,
a new Edition, with a Frontispiece and two Vignettes engraved after Designs by William Blake,
London, 1796; Robert Blair, The Grave, London, 1808.
94 Both artists' compositions appear to have followed the tiered structure of Michelangelo's Last
Judgement (Sistine Chapel, The Vatican) which was well-known through engravings.
95 Op. cit. at note 91, p. 307.
48