A cosmic battle between good and evil unfolds in this dramatic watercolor by romantic poet and visionary artist William Blake. Sweeping lines cross the drawing and evoke the zigzag flash of lightning, whoosh of a gale, and flap of wings, imbuing the scene with tension. The stakes are no less than the fate of humankind. Show The book of Revelation, the final book of the New Testament, contains a series of warnings to Christians to maintain and guard their faith, then relates a series of allegorical episodes that demonstrate the consequences of spiritual defection. Blake’s The Great Red Dragon and Woman Clothed in the Sun illustrates passages that describe “an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads” who descends upon “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.” The dragon embodies Satan. His mission is to exact revenge on the woman who has given birth to a follower of God who will spread the Christian faith. Sun bathes the woman’s figure and catches in the crescent sliver of moon on which she rests. Darkness and shadow fill the sky above like a storm cloud as the dragon’s wings stir a great wind and sweep her hair upward, flamelike. Below, a rising deluge invoked by the dragon–intended to engulf the woman—overwhelms the figures of hapless souls. As the devil hovers to witness her demise, God grants her wings that carry her to safety. Yet the powerful image of the dragon’s outstretched arms and hers arcing toward each other in mirror image suggest that good and evil are a duality, like the dark and light sides of the moon, rather than completely independent forces. The earth will open up to swallow the water, and the thwarted dragon will fly away to wage war against the woman’s progeny, the followers of God. For Blake, it is spiritual power—the purity and goodness represented by the woman—that always prevails, however horrific the circumstances. Three other watercolors of the Great Dragon passages appear in a series of works made by Blake between 1805 and 1809 that is based on the book of Revelation. They are part of a larger group of tempera and watercolor paintings executed for Blake’s most important patron, Thomas Butts. The Great Red Dragon paintings are a series of watercolour paintings by the English poet and painter William Blake, painted between 1805 and 1810.[1] It
was during this period that Blake was commissioned to create over one hundred paintings intended to illustrate books of the Bible. These paintings depict "The Great Red Dragon" in various scenes from the Book of Revelation. 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. —(Rev. 12:3–4, KJV)  Where is the red dragon painting?The Rosenbach Museum & Library, Philadelphia.
What does the Bible say about the Red Dragon?Revelation 12 1
She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.
Who painted the great red dragon?William Blake, The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun, 1803-1805, Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY, USA. Detail. William Blake was one of the most important poets, engravers, and artists of the Romantic Age.
What does the Great Red Dragon represent?The dragon embodies Satan, seeking to exact revenge on the woman who has given birth to a follower of God who will spread the Christian faith (i.e. Jesus).
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Is the Red Dragon painting real?
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