Painting Light, Drawing Space: William Blake and the Incongruous Image of Architectural Space

The watercolor “A Vision: The Inspiration of the Poet (Elisha in the Chamber on the Wall),” by William Blake circa 1819–1820, demonstrates conflict between the painted image of light and the drawn geometric representation of architectural space. The work highlights the ability of human vision to construct spatial awareness through perceived light cues onto the form of architecture and demonstrates that this can become confused when the drawn perspective of the space conflicts counterintuitively with our evolved expectation of how light would ecologically appear through visual perception. The visual strength of the work’s drawn perspective reinforces and defines its spatial form; however, our evolved reading of this spatial construct, based upon the depiction of light cues presented, creates a counterintuitive and conflicted reading. This article will argue that the counterpoint between reading the perceptual representation of light and the visual construction of geometric space influences our visual acceptance of the reality of light cues presented by Blake.