English: The Marriage of Heaven and Hell - Copy I object 10 detail - cropped

William Blake. Two scholars copied "Proverbs of Hell" from the devil's scroll. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, copy I, 1827, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England. w:ru:Уильям Блейк.

electronic edition The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, object 10 (Bentley 10, Erdman 10, Keynes 10)

Sector CD plate Illustration

A nude male devil with blue skin and bat wings, pointing to a scroll across his lap, kneels between two seated scribes. A gowned figure (probably male) to the left apparently writes down what he says and a second gowned figure (probably male) to the right looks over his shoulder and copies from the scroll to the tablet in his lap. All three figures are on a grassy island or shore, with dark water in front of them. Behind the central devil is a table or stool covered with something, perhaps a cushion. Spiky vegetation—a plant of some sort—frames the figures on the right; the threatening plant on the left might be a catchfly. The rounded forms far left and right may be clouds or a suggestion of large rocks or a cave's mouth (see plate 11 in this copy). The coloring of the sky hints at a sunrise or sunset.