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Despite his reputation as an artist who took his principal inspiration from the ancient world, Flaxman argued in his lectures to the Royal Academy that “there are more suitable artistic subjects to be found in the Old and New Testaments than in pagan mythology” (Bindman, 1979, p. 31). “The Creation of the Heavens” is an example of Flaxman’s lesser-known series of biblical drawings. In this dramatic composition the aggregate mass of God and his angels flies upward, cutting a diagonal swath across the darkened paper. Sidestepping the problem of representing the Creator’s visage, Flaxman depicts God and the angels from behind, their forms simplified into a few strokes of watercolor. Stars or planets are suggested by the spots of untouched white paper surrounded by the dark watercolor wash in the background. Locating this undated drawing within Flaxman’s career is difficult. During his sojourn in Rome we know that he spent time drawing illustrations for “Pilgrim's Progress” and also biblical subject matter such as “Enoch Raised to Heaven” (1792, British Museum, London). Influenced by the Renaissance art in the Italian capital, Flaxman is clearly indebted in this drawing to Michelangelo’s “Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Planets” in the Sistine Chapel. Scholars have also noted, however, the similarity between “The Creation of the Heavens” and plates from William Blake’s “The First Book of Urizen” (1794). It might therefore make sense to date the drawing to after Flaxman’s return to London in 1794, the same year that Urizen appeared.