page_title: Henry IV, Part 1
section_title: Criticism and analysis
hierarchical_section_title: Henry IV, Part 1 / Criticism and analysis
caption_attribution_description: English: William Blake 'As if an angel dropped down from the clouds', illustration to 'Henry IV drawing / bookObject typedrawing term detailsbook term details Museum number1954,1113.1.37 Description'As if an angel dropped down from the clouds', illustration to 'Henry IV, Part I' IV, i, 108-9, formerly in an extra-illustrated second folio edition of Shakespeare (1632); a nude girl reclining on clouds with a book, a male angel and Pegasus below, sun rays behind. 1809 Pen and grey ink, and watercolour More Producer nameDrawn by: William Blake biography School/styleBritish Date1809 Materialspaper Techniquedrawn term details DimensionsHeight: 308 millimetresWidth: 192 millimetres Inscriptions Inscription Content Inscribed and dated: "W Blake 1809" and "5" Curator's comments Blake illustrations, 1954-11-13-1 (11,21,22,26,27,37), removed from an extra-illustrated second folio edition of Shakespeare (1632) (200.b.12). This illustration was formerly bound in at the end of the book, the play having already been illustrated by Robert Ker Porter in 1801. See Curator's Comment to 1954-11-13-1(1). More BibliographyButlin 547(6) bibliographic details LocationBritish Roy PIV Exhibition history1990 Sep-Nov, Tokyo, National Museum of Western Art, William Blake 1992 June-Nov, Essen, Villa Hugel, London 1800-1838 2000/1 Nov-Feb, London, Tate Britain, William Blake 2003 Feb-June, Ferrara, Pal dei Diamanti, Shakespeare in Art 2003 July-Oct, London, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Shakespeare in Art 2009 April-Oct, London, Tate Britain, William Blake 1809 exhibition 'As if an angel dropped down from the clouds', illustration to 'Henry IV, Part I' IV, i, 108-9, formerly in an extra-illustrated second folio edition of Shakespeare (1632); a nude girl reclining on clouds with a book, a male angel and Pegasus below, sun rays behind. 1809 Pen and grey ink, and watercolour Large image More views (2) 'As if an angel dropped down from the clouds', illustration to 'Henry IV, Part I' IV, i, 108-9, formerly in an extra-illustrated second folio edition of Shakespeare (1632); a nude girl reclining on clouds with a book, a male angel and Pegasus below, sun rays behind. 1809 Pen and grey ink, and watercolour William Blake, Fiery Pegasus (1809) Pen, ink and watercolor, size approximately 9 x 6.5 inches, British Museum, London. The inspiration for the picture comes from The First Part of Henry IV, Act IV, Scene i, where Sir Richard Vernon at the Battle of Shrewsbury comments on the sudden transformation of Prince Hal into a soldier who "vaulted with such ease into his seat / As if an angel dropp'd down from the clouds/ To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus/ And witch the world with noble horsemanship." Blake entitled the picture "A spirit vaulting from a cloud to turn and wind a fiery Pegasus"; to this title he adds a gloss which W. M. Merchant suggests typically "weds the Shakespearean theme to his own mythology": Blake says that in his illustration "The Horse of Intellect is leaping from the cliffs of Memory: it is a barren Rock: it is also called the Barren Waste of Locke and Newton." Here, Merchant comments, the barren reason that Blake rejects is supplanted by creativity and spontaneity (Apollo 320).
context_page_description: Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. It is the second play in Shakespeare's tetralogy dealing with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V. Henry IV, Part 1 depicts a span of history that begins with Hotspur's battle at Homildon in Northumberland against Douglas late in 1402 and ends with the defeat of the rebels at Shrewsbury in the middle of 1403. From the start, it has been an extremely popular play both with the public and critics.
caption: "Rise from the ground like feathered Mercury/ And vaulted with such ease into his seat/ As if an angel dropp'd down from the clouds/ To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus/ And witch the world with noble horsemanship." Act IV, Scene i, Hal's transformation, William Blake 1809
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