Blake and Chaucer : 'Infinite Variety of Character'

Author / Editor
Pace, Claire.

Title
Blake and Chaucer : 'Infinite Variety of Character'

Published
Art History 3 (1980): 388-409.

Description
Examines William Blake's painting of the Canterbury pilgrims for its artistic value and its place in the history of taste. Blake's "Descriptive Catalog," which accompanied the first exhibition of the painting, and his "Prospectus" for a subsequent engraving of the pilgrims reflect his views on characterization and his admiration of Chaucer.
Pace surveys pictorial depictions of Chaucerian materials before Blake and comments on the rise of Chaucer's popularity in the eighteenth century.

Chaucer Subjects
Chaucer's Influence and Later Allusion.