William Blake lived at the edge of the seen world, translating his feverish visions of heaven and hell into a visual language that felt entirely new. This exhibition, a major collaboration with Tate, places Blake’s mystical engravings and watercolors alongside his peers, showing how artists like Turner and Fuseli also wrestled with the shadows of a changing era. It is a portrait of a mind that refused to be contained by the logic of the Enlightenment.

You're watching a labyrinth of over 100 works spread across the gallery’s hushed interior rooms. The lighting is low to protect the delicate papers, creating an intimate, almost conspiratorial atmosphere. You move between small, intense plates of fantastical creatures and larger, swirling compositions where human forms stretch and contort against cosmic backgrounds, revealing the raw emotional pulse of the Romantic age.

• A Rare Partnership: The National Gallery of Ireland and Tate bring together over 100 works, many of which are too delicate to travel frequently.
• Contextual Mastery: Seeing Blake alongside Turner and Fuseli highlights the shared obsession with the sublime and the supernatural in late-eighteenth-century art.
• The Full Spectrum: The exhibition covers everything from Blake’s intricate poetry illustrations to his most famous portrayals of ancient myths and underworld visions.

Allow the heavy, quiet energy of Rooms 6 through 10 to sink in before rushing to the larger masterpieces. Blake’s work demands a slow, close reading of the fine lines and handwritten text. After stepping out, walk through Merrion Square; the park’s formal geometry provides a grounding contrast to the chaotic, swirling underworlds you’ve just left behind.