1. The Great Red Dragon Paintings
are a series ofwatercolourpaintings by
theEnglishpoetandpainterWilliam Blake,
painted between1805and1810.
These paintings depict
'The Great Red Dragon' in various scenes from the
Book of Revelation.
2. William Blake
William Blake was a visionary, even hallucinatory, English painter
who lived at the dawn of the technological era. Unlike most artists
of his era he did not draw from life, claiming that the visions
that appeared before him were clearer and more vivid than his
perception of external reality. Around 1805-1810, Blake was
commissioned to create over a hundred paintings illustrating books
from the Bible. Among these was a four-painting cycle of the Great
Red Dragon (Satan) from the Book of Revelationsin the Bible.
The dragon is described ashaving seven heads and ten horns, and on
his heads, seven crowns. His tail drew one third of the stars of
the sky, and threw them to the earth.
3. The Prince of Darkness, Lucifer, The Beast, The Great Red
Dragon - The Devil has many titles and just as many appearances-
all the easier for the most infamous trickster to induce mayhem on
the Earth.
Its usually incognito and in the form of serpents, or other animals
and even humanoid.
But if ever confronted with the epitome of all evil in all its
hideous glory, as seen in this painting, with a wingspan as wide as
a house and a tail which will wrap around you, theres not much to
do but cower in fear.
4. The Devil is evil itself, the enemy of God. It plays a
starring role in the book of Revelation in the Bible, which was
illustrated at one point by the English poet and painter William
Blake.
He was commissioned to paint over a hundred paintings for the King
James Bible, including the Great Red Dragon series, which
altogether hold the number 2 slot in the 10 scariest paintings
list.
William Blake can be considered a visionary painter for allowing
the imagination to take free reign in his work. This can be taken
literally, as Blake once claimed to have gotten the idea for an
illustration method from the vision of his dead brother.
Beside the Bible, his inspirations would illustrate the works of
Shakespeare, Milton, Dantes Divine Comedy, and his own
poetry.
5. And behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten
horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third
part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth.
What youre seeing above is called The Great Red Dragon and the
Woman Clothed in Sun.
In the painting we see the Beast, wings spread, towering over a
woman representing the Church.
6. The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun
Housed at theBrooklyn Museum.
This is the painting The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed
With the Sun, not to be confused with the woman clothed In
Sun.
Here is a different angle of the same scene showing a much more
noticeably pregnant woman, who symbolizes the Virgin Mary.
In this one, Satan has taken flight with tail coiling behind and
prepares to descend on the woman and devour her child.
7. The Great Red Dragon and the Beast from the Sea
This painting depicts the passage literally, taken from Revelations
13 : 1-
And I stood upon the sand ofthe sea, and saw a beast rise upout of
the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten
crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast
which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet
of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: andthe dragon gave
him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Housed at theNational Gallery of Art, Washington.
8. The Number of the Beast is 666
This also comes from the apocalypse doomsday story in the final
book of the bible.
Housed at theRosenbach Museum & Library.
9. Religious or not you can look at the painting, especially
the one in slide 6 and imagine if you witnessed such a beast.
The humongous muscles rippling on the diabolical back of the Devil,
with the huge bat wings spread out ready to flap down in an
Earth-shattering display of might, with the horns and tail slowly
crushing the woman to death, are all enough to scare even the most
seasoned arch-diocesan exorcist.
This isnt a hallucination, or a vision or nightmare. Its not a
demon, or a harpy, or some Hellion Imp. It is the combined fears of
humankind, the lack of light and love, the harbinger of doom and
darkness.
It is Evil itself.
10. Music ~ Enya Book of Days
Slide Presentation
Created by
Trinity
2010
