This is a typical example of one of the Visionary Heads, mainly executed in 1819, for Blake's friend the watercolourist John Varley (1778-1842); they are imaginary heads, or occasionally complete figures or groups, of historical or other personages purportedly seen in visions. A few were engraved by John Linnell (1792-1882) for the first and only part of Varley's projected four-part Treating on Zodiacal Physiognomy, published in 1828. The quantity and frequent duplication of the drawings suggests that some follow-on scheme was envisaged in collaboration between Blake, Varley and Linnell.

This example is relatively exceptional in that it is the only known version of the subject. The biblical Jonathan, son of King Saul, was brother-in-law to David and sided with him against the murderous jealousy of Saul. The relationship between Jonathan and David is summarised in Samuel XVIII, I: 'And it came to pass ... that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul'. Varley's inscribed title clearly began 'Jonathan ...', but how the relationship was expressed is not clear. The cutting of the inscription (in the upper left-hand corner of the paper) suggests that the paper has been trimmed. Two other drawings of the Visionary Heads are on paper with the same watermark, these drawings are 'Satan', (Smith College Museum of Art; M. Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake, New Haven and London, 1981, no. 693) on paper 9 1/8 x 12¼in. and 'Uriah and Bathsheba' (Huntingdon Library and Art Gallery; M. Butlin, op. cit., 1981 no. 699) on paper 8 x 12 13/16in.

Most of Blake's Visionary Heads, with inscriptions by Linnell or Varley, were dispersed through the Linnell and Varley families. The examples sold from the Linnell Collection in 1818 include a number of untraced works, of which this drawing could well be one