Los and His Spectre [verso]

c. 1804/1807 · Drawing

Can I see it?

Not on view at present

Where is “Los and His Spectre [verso]” now? Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.

National Gallery of Art

Washington, D.C., United States

It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.

Checked: 10 days ago
In this state since: Aug 19, 2026
Source: The museum

On the map Museum page

Details

Accession number: 1943.3.8998.b

What it shows

Mythology Los and his Spectre

In the catalog

Drawings & watercolors Graphite Neoclassicism Romanticism 19th century British Romantic

Sources

National Gallery of Art
Image: National Gallery of Art — Museum open access

In the life of William Blake

The whole life

September 1800 – September 1803 · Workplace
Felpham
August 1803
A fight with the soldier Schofield and a trial at Chichester
In August 1803 Blake was involved in a physical altercation with a soldier, John Schofield, and was charged not only with assault but with uttering seditious and treasonable expressions against the King; Schofield claimed that Blake had exclaimed “Damn the king. The soldiers are all slaves.” Blake was cleared at the Chichester assizes.
September 1803 – October 1803 · Residence
Broadwick Street
October 1803 – 1820 · Residence
South Molton Street
1804
Returns to London and begins “Jerusalem”
In 1804 Blake returned to London and began to write and illustrate “Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion” (1804–20), his most ambitious work.
1809
An exhibition in his brother's shop: nothing sold
Blake set up an independent exhibition in his brother's haberdashery shop at 27 Broad Street in Soho to market his version of “The Canterbury Pilgrims” along with other works. It was very poorly attended, sold none of the temperas or watercolours, and its only review, in The Examiner, was hostile.