Chaucer's Canterbury Pilgrims

Work on Paper

-

DePaul Art Museum

Name/Title

Chaucer's Canterbury Pilgrims

Entry/Object ID

5001

Description

Procession of characters on horseback with countryside and gothic arch in background; labeled "Chaucer's Canterbury Pilgrims" at bottom of image.

Artwork Details

Medium

Engraving

Context

William Blake, though not well recognized during his lifetime, is now perhaps the most well known artist of the British Romantic Era. He is remembered for both his poetry as well as his drawings and paintings. While he illustrated his own poems, he also spent a large portion of his career producing illustrations of famous writer’s works. Some may call this “fan art,” seeing as how he was (at the time) considered an amateur creating this art for his own enjoyment. Therefore, this piece is typical of Blake’s work, as it is an image of Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales:” twenty-four short stories about a pilgrimage across England written in the late middle ages.

Acquisition

Notes

Collection of DePaul Art Museum

Made/Created

Artist

Blake, William

Date made

1810

Ethnography

Notes

England Europe, England

Lexicon

Legacy Lexicon

Class

WORKS ON PAPER

Dimensions

Dimension Description

whole

Width

20 cm

Length

56 cm