Christian with the Shield of Faith, Taking Leave of His Companions 1824 - 1827

William Blake rendered this delicate watercolor titled 'Christian with the Shield of Faith, Taking Leave of His Companions.' At its heart lies the shield, an emblem of faith, a beacon of protection against the trials that beset us. Shields appear throughout history, from the Bronze Age, as testaments to the human will to persevere, to endure. In ancient Greece, the aspis was a symbol of communal defense and civic duty. Here, in Blake’s vision, it morphs into a spiritual armory. Consider the act of departure itself, heavy with emotion—a motif echoed in countless farewell scenes throughout art history. It evokes a deep-seated psychological tension between the need for connection and the call of individual destiny. Such images touch the wellspring of our own memories of separation. The shield, then, is more than armor, and this farewell more than just a goodbye; they are the eternal return, the cyclical quest that continually resurfaces in the human psyche, each time reshaped by the cultural currents of the age.