William Blake is usually thought of as a prophet ignored in his lifetime, who created his illuminated books such as Visions of the Daughters of Albion and Jerusalem in obscure toil, ignored by the masses who preferred to laugh themselves sick at Gillray’s cartoons. But he did have some supporters, even in high society, as this unlikely treasure of a stately home shows. It was commissioned by Elizabeth Ilive, Countess of Egremont, and still hangs today in the Egremont family seat at Petworth, West Sussex, along with many paintings by Blake’s contemporary JMW Turner. It’s a homage to one of Blake’s heroes, Michelangelo. He fills the skies with blessed and doomed souls, delineated as bold physical forms, just like the towering bodies in Michelangelo’s Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. But this is not just an artistic exercise. Blake really believed the end was nigh.
• Petworth House, West Sussex

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