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| Commons wikipedia.org Ancient of Days |
God was referred to as the Ancient of Days three times in the 9th Chapter of the Book of Daniel. Here is one of them:
"[9] I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
[10] A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
[10] A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
But Blake wasn't the only artist who used the 9th Chapter of Daniel; John of Patmos, the writer of the Book of Revelation did also, sometimes almost verbatim.
From Wikipedia:
"When Europe was printed, it was in the same format as Blake's America and sold for the same price. It was printed between 1794 and 1821 with only 9 copies of the work surviving.."
and seven in the Blake Archive.
It was said to be used as "a portrait of Urizen in his finest hour" (Erdman Illuminated p.155).
This reminds us that Blake thought of the Old Testmant (non-forgiving) God as noted for 'the
bump on the head'
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