Jacob’s Ladder: William Blake’s Watercolor Ode to the Divine Imagination
William Blake’s 1805 rendition of Jacob’s Ladder, or Jacob's Dream, pen and grey ink and watercolor on paper, is both sublime and provocative. It is immediately distinguishable and carries within it the very mystery of the divine. Blake was impressed and satisfied with the work. This is not an easy achievement by any stretch of the imagination as artists usually are wounded by the barrage of self-critique and, even at times, abuse by their conscience and sense of perfectionism. Notwithstanding, the work brings the viewer into biblical and metaphysical realms. In the book of Genesis, specifically, chapter 28:10–19, the dreamlike narrative of the mystical experience Jacob had encountering God is vividly illustrated.
The ladder has several key interpretations. For Blake, who was influenced by Emmanuel Swedenborg, Spiritualists, and other mystical Christian writers, the varied views were stimulating. The provided the range of inspiration and the deep muses for the work to become one of the quintessential pieces of mystical religious art.
The unique characteristics of the
piece include the variation on the theme of the ladder. Blake chooses a staircase
extending out from the Sun to touch the earth's surface adjacent to the crown
of Jacob’s head. Where the ladder has a
more Judaic symbolism, stairs reveal Blake’s broader spiritual references. There are not only angels ascending and
descending. Humans are also partaking in
this celestial showcase. I have always
been intrigued by the possible connections between Blake’s theology and that of
Philo. Philo believed in the
transmigration of souls. It is easy to
deduce the Blake felt the same by noticing how the human souls ascend and descend
the steps of the heavenly spiral staircase.
As the humans descend, they carry
with them instruments of art and labor.
One woman carries a vase and purse, as in detailing a life to come in
the service of others. One is reminded
of the Buddhist concept of the bodhisattva, a saint who, rather than enjoy the
eternal peace of the Tushita heaven, chooses to return to show others the way
to enlightenment. Another lady
descending the stairs reads from a long scroll (perhaps the book of life) held
by another ascending woman. The lady
reaching the earth has determination written across her countenance, and she takes
within her left hand, a large compass, and in her right hand what appears to be
shoes. These images invoke thoughts of
the divine work of surveying the word as God asked of prophets in Scripture, such
as Isaiah. Later, Christian mystics such
as Cosmas Indicopleustes, an Egyptian monk, would also use this symbol to
express the divine purposes of Creation and of achieving intimacy with
God.
I see Jacob lying on the ground,
and his arms outstretched. At a closer
view, the ground seems ornate with topography, and colors selected by Blake
make the schema seem close to the Earth – being viewed from space. As Jacob stretches across the ground, his
arms outstretched in a cruciform manner, the sensibility that the unfathomable
length, width, and expanse of the staircase, which guarantees the unceasing
connection from heaven to earth (as above so below), this is also the role
Jacob is to play, and that of all the stars which are analogous to the
innumerable sons and daughters promised to Jacob and Abraham.
At the base of the stairs from
earth ascending, it is no coincidence that an angel is carrying a basket of
bread and behind her, the woman carrying the vase and purse. As Jacob’s sleep occurred on what many
scholars argue to be Mount Moriah, this would later be called Calvary. Another would have his arms set in excruciating
cruciform fashion, promising the ladder to heaven for all humanity. Jesus’ death is dramatically expressed in the
Eucharist, in the bread and wine, of Christian liturgy, a mystical religious
experience quite familiar to Blake in which art imitated life – in the most brutal,
hopeful, divine, and human manner ever contemplated by the human eye.
I recall as a young seminary
student perusing through Blake’s poetry and noticing a theological commentary
of significant importance which remains with me to this day – Jesus was the
bridge, according to Blake, between the heavens and the earth. This painting illustrates the same. At the highest echelons, the staircase
becomes one with the Sun – the Egyptian depiction of God, or Ra. And at the foot of the stairs, bread and wine
is provided - “Do this for the remembrance of Me.”
In Blake’s painting, there is a
mother with her child ascending the stairs.
Her daughter is looking ahead, intent, and innocent. Her mother is surveying the vastness of the
heavens, and it seems there is a sense of awe and surrender in her face. They are home. Immediately in from of them, a mother is
carrying her baby. Not even death can
separate what was once one.
The painting highlights the
reunions with loved ones, so many adherents of different religious traditions
look forward to it. It is for untold
numbers the only shred of solace for so many presently laying on hospice beds,
walking out of oncology offices, and viewing their entire lives before them at
this very moment. “I will see you again.” Blake looked forward to this personal
experience with his spouse.
One true marvel of the painting is
the color. As the viewer takes her eye
from the bottom of the work to the very top of the canvas, the illustrated
beings are beautifully singular. One
notices their faces, emotions and follows their gaze. Backgrounds of midnight blue intersect greens
and browns. As blue hues serve as
shadows for the persons ascending and descending, those in the work's
midsection are noticeably silhouettes of light.
Still defined, but now beings significantly distant from the earth and
always ascending to the source of all light.
As they reach the acme, they become one with the golden light of the
Sun. As Blake depicts the light
emanating from the Sun, they are waves moving away from the Sun and covering
all the light surveys. In turn, the
angels and humans are swept by the light, and only occasional reliefs outline
who they once were in souls veiled in matter as they are now spirits free in
the perpetual light.
There are endless possibilities for
Blake. As many as the mysteries of the
divine. Art, for Blake, was indelibly
the sacred vehicle through which we access the divine imagination. Through reliefs, watercolor, or poetry, these
mediums help us to encounter God within us.
It is an art that reveals metaphysical purposes. Through art, we can
find meaning to life’s pain, mysteries, uncertainties, and injustices. The name given to Jacob was Israel. God names him so because it was his
unwillingness to let go while he wrestled with God. We encounter God and discover our divinity. Art
is for each of us our ladder to and from heaven.
Comments
Post a Comment