
Portrait of William Blake by Thomas Phillips, 1807
“The Bible must be shaken upside down before it will yield all its secrets. The priests have censored and clipped and mangled: they give us a celibate Jesus born of a virgin without the slightest ‘stain’ of sexual contact, which is blasphemes nonsense (29).”
William Blake was a British poet, painter, printmaker, and engraver. A visionary artist and nonconformist, Blake expressed his radical views on society, politics, and religion through his poetry, paintings, watercolors, and illuminated books. His work often hid criticism within complex mythology to avoid persecution from the British government. Wikipedia.org
Born November 28, 1757, Soho, London, United Kingdom
Died August 12, 1827 (age 69 years), London, United Kingdom