Skip Navigation

The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun (Rev. 12: 1-4)

William Blake

European Art

After the French Revolution, artists such as the printmaker, painter, and poet William Blake drew subject matter from the biblical book of Revelation to contemplate the tumult of their era. This watercolor refers to the appearance of “a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet” and “a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns.” The dragon, identified with Satan, attempts to snatch a soon-to-be-born son from the frightened woman, who represents the Virgin Mary, Israel, and the church.

Though this imagery is highly personal, like much of Blake’s visionary poetry and art, it relates to his work as a reproductive engraver, borrowing its composition from a book illustration that he engraved after the Swiss artist Henry Fuseli in 1791.

This image emerged in contemporary popular culture when it appeared in the 2002 movie Red Dragon, tattooed on the back of a serial killer played by Ralph Fiennes.
MEDIUM Black ink and watercolor over traces of graphite and incised lines on wove paper
  • Place Made: England
  • DATES ca. 1803-1805
    DIMENSIONS Image: 17 3/16 x 13 11/16 in. (43.7 x 34.8 cm) Sheet (with inlay): 21 11/16 x 17 1/16 in. (55.1 x 43.3 cm)  (show scale)
    SIGNATURE Signed bottom right: Monogram "WB inv"
    INSCRIPTIONS Inscribed above the image: "A Woman clothed with the sun, & the moon under her feet, and/upon her head a crown of twelve stars; and behold a great red dragon also." Inscribed below the image at right: "Revns:ch:12th: v 4th:" Inscribed below the image: "And the tail of the great red dragon drew the third part of the stars of/heaven, and did cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the/woman which was ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as it was born."
    COLLECTIONS European Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 15.368
    CREDIT LINE Gift of William Augustus White
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION William Blake (British, 1757-1827). The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun (Rev. 12: 1-4), ca. 1803-1805. Black ink and watercolor over traces of graphite and incised lines on wove paper, Image: 17 3/16 x 13 11/16 in. (43.7 x 34.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of William Augustus White, 15.368 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 15.368_SL1.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 15.368_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT No known copyright restrictions
    This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement. You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.