- The Great Red Dragon Paintings
The Great Red Dragon Paintings are a series of
watercolor paintings by the English poet and painterWilliam Blake between1805 and1810 [ [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/red-dragon-william-blake.html Artcyclopedia] ] . It was during this period that Blake was commissioned to create over a hundred paintings intended to illustrate books of the Bible. These paintings depict 'The Great Red Dragon' in various events from theBook of Revelation .The Paintings
The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun
In this painting, the Dragon is seen ready to devour the child of the pregnant woman, who symbolises the
Church , theVirgin Mary , andIsrael .Height: 54.6cm, Width: 43.2cm [ [http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/collections/european_art/15.368.php Brooklyn Museum] ]
Housed at the
Brooklyn Museum .The Great Red Dragon and the Woman clothed with the Sun
This image is similar to "The Great Red Dragon and the Woman clothed in Sun" but shown from a different viewpoint.Height: 40.8, Width: 33.7cm [ [http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pinfo?Object=11507+0+none National Gallery of Art] ]
Housed at the
National Gallery of Art .The Great Red Dragon and the Beast from the Sea
Height: 40.1cm, Width: 35.6cm [ [http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pinfo?Object=11504+0+none National Gallery of Art] ]
Housed at the
National Gallery of Art .The Number of the Beast is 666
Height: 40.6cm, Width: 33.0cm [ [http://rosenbach.pastperfect-online.com/32739cgi/mweb.exe?request=record;id=631BD878-D097-46E6-8D4D-441785163885;type=101 Rosenbach Museum & Library] ]
Housed at the
Rosenbach Museum & Library .References in popular culture
* The character of the Great Red Dragon plays a prominent role in Thomas Harris' novel "
Red Dragon " and its film adaptations, "Manhunter" and "Red Dragon", in which the primary antagonistFrancis Dolarhyde has an obsession with the painting. Thomas Harris makes an error in citing "The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun" as the object of Dolarhyde's fixation while describing "The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun", specifically the Dragon's tail wrapping around the woman, a detail specifically accurate of the "in" painting. "Manhunter" shows the "with" painting as named in Harris's book whereas "Red Dragon" uses "in" as described by Harris.* A mural-sized reproduction of "The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in the Sun" appears painted on a wall in "Sight Unseen," an episode of "The Flash". The television series' art direction is noted for regularly featuring elaborate, theme-specific murals.
*All of the paintings in the series were used for the artwork of the "Legend" CD trilogy (1997-2007) by the band
Saviour Machine .References
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