The Ghost of a Flea

Image credit: Tate

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John Varley – an artist, astrologer and close friend of Blake – reported in his 'Treatise on Zodiacal Physiognomy' (1882) that Blake was once visited by the ghost of a flea and that ‘This spirit visited his imagination in such a figure as he never anticipated in an insect.’ While drawing the spirit it told the artist that all fleas were inhabited by the souls of men who were ‘by nature bloodthirsty to excess’. In the painting the spirit holds a cup for blood-drinking and stares eagerly towards it. Blake’s amalgamation of man and beast suggests human character is marred by animalistic traits.

Tate Britain

London

Title

The Ghost of a Flea

Date

c.1819–20

Medium

Tempera heightened with gold on mahogany

Measurements

H 21.4 x W 16.2 cm

Accession number

N05889

Acquisition method

Bequeathed by W. Graham Robertson 1949

Work type

Painting

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