Talk:The Ancient of Days

Image
This article is about the various images on this theme created by Blake, as stated in the initial sentence. As such I see no reason why the one image that is cited as not by Blake is the only one that should be included in the article. And if this image, why a black and white version, which does not faithfully reproduce the color present in the print? I'm going to go ahead and restore the version from Europe. If anyone wants to include the version that is not in Butlin's catalog, then they should upload the color version and include it in a gallery of this image's various iterations.  Litho  derm  05:50, 6 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Where is the citation that says that of the reproduction in Garnett? cygnis insignis 17:51, 6 March 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm not thick, but I don't know what that is supposed to mean. Could you clarify that? Otherwise it seems to be a pedantic insistence on citing common sense.  Litho  derm  18:22, 6 March 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm not having a go at you, on the contrary, I'm interested in your contributions. The reproduction was prepared for a book on Blake, your ref at Commons said it was not by Blake. The image at BM is yet another one, which they suggest is not by Blake, which is an intriguing fact. What or who connects the Garnett reproduction to this third image, I see this as an opportunity to improve content, that is currently a bit confusing, with citations that clarify what is and isn't Blake. cygnis insignis 18:52, 6 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Ok, fair enough. The image cited by the British Museum as not by Blake has several unusual features that are not present in any image known to be by Blake. Let's look at the image- first of all, the figure of God (or Urizen) is significantly smaller in relation to the rest of the design than any other known iteration. The mouth of the figure is visible, while in all other prints it is hidden by the flowing facial hair. The tilt of the head is slightly off, as well. Most noticeable, however, is the inclusion of the figure's right arm, a sort of awkward stick propping up the figure. Keep in mind that this is the artist who wrote in his descriptive catalogue that "the productions of our youth and of our maturer age are equal in all essential points". He first created Europe a Prophecy in 1794, and Copy K, printed 1821, is essentially identical in composition. If he had wanted to add that arm, he could have altered the plate- but he didn't. As for the question of whether these are the same image, the book's caption states that the print is in the collection of the British Museum. What are the chances that there are two such unusual copies, and that they are both in the collection of the British Museum? Knowing what I do about Blake, and using common sense, it seems evident that these are identical.  Litho  derm  20:03, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

Whitworth?
I was aware of this duplication, confirmed by the upload to commons, but I added File:The Ancient of Days (Whitworth).jpg with the hope that the source was correct in stating it was from Whitworth. It matches the descriptions I've found of the Blake's very last effort (according to Tatham), not the copies held by the BM at any time. cygnis insignis 06:22, 27 March 2010 (UTC)

Another extant copy
The NYPL has one, different than the ones shown here, avalable online for free use: http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47db-b61c-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 —David Eppstein (talk) 07:52, 7 January 2016 (UTC)

The G copy
Wondering why this image isn't listed in the gallery, is it under question as an original Blake? Obtained from Commons. Thanks. Randy Kryn (talk) 13:50, 27 February 2020 (UTC)
 * And this page says there are 13 copies of Europe a Prophecy while its page says there are nine extant copies. This discrepancy should find resolution. Randy Kryn (talk) 03:42, 28 February 2020 (UTC)
 * The Morgan's page on the work. Seems enough to add it to the page. Randy Kryn (talk) 13:33, 28 February 2020 (UTC)

Works inspired by
"Ancient of Days" seems to be the inspiration for the bas relief at the entrance to the Rockefeller Center building in NYC. See this tweet from Tim Waterman. I'm not sure what version of the image to link to, so I haven't added it to the page. Bronx72 (talk) 14:56, 29 November 2020 (UTC)