An English poet, painter, and printmaker (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827). Having spent nearly his entire life in London (aside from three years in Felpham), Blake remained largely unrecognized during his lifetime, but is now regarded as a seminal figure in Romantic literature and visual arts. Blake developed a distinct technique of illuminated printing (relief etching), integrating poetic text directly with hand-colored illustrations. Through his prophetic works and complex mythological series, he championed human imagination over Enlightenment rationalism and conventional academic painting.