photo #8520782

TODAY'S BIRTHDAY Walter Crane (15 August 1845 Liverpool England – 14 March 1915 Horsham England) was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most influential, and among the most prolific, children's book creators of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway, one of the strongest contributors to the child's nursery motif that the genre of English children's illustrated literature would exhibit in its developmental stages in the later 19th century. The Roll of Fate depicts an angel attempting to alter the course of events by preventing Time from unrolling the scroll on which the destiny of mankind is recorded. It illustrates two verses from Edward FitzGerald's translation (published in english 1859) of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (Persian version ca1100): XCVIII Would but some winged Angel ere too late Arrest the yet unfolded Roll of Fate, And make the stern Recorder otherwise Enregister, or quite obliterate! XCIX Ah, Love! could you and I with Him conspire To grasp this sorry Scheme of Things entire, Would not we shatter it to bits--and then Re-mould it nearer to the Heart's Desire The Roll of Fate by Walter Crane, 1882 Oil on canvas 71,1 cm x 66 cm Private collection