Hate to have two of these...William Blake.

William Blake, born November 28^th, 1757, was the third of seven children in his family. Hailing from the Soho District of London, he began school at a young age. However, he only remained in school long enough to learn to read and write. After reaching that stage in his education, he was homeschooled by his mother, Catherine Wright Armitage Blake, due to his unruliness. His father was a hosier, meaning that he sold hosiery for a living. He spent a great deal of his young life around the edges of town and in the countryside of London.

It has been said that around the age of ten, Blake saw his “first vision.” As he gazed upon a tree, he began to see angels. By this time, he stated that he had already begun to read the works of Milton and Isaiah. These were great influences as he began to write not much later in his life.

Soon after his vision, but not related, Blake was sent to an art school in Strand. During his time in Mr. Pars’ Drawing school, he spent most of his time copying plaster molds of ancient sculptures. At the age of 14, he was placed at the apprentice level for an engraver because his father could not afford a lead painter. His master was named James Basire and was an engraver at the London Society of the Antiquaries. Due to this fact, Blake was sent to Westminster Abbey to draw tombs and monuments. After this, he began collecting the works of Michelangelo and the literary works of Elizabethan writers such as Shakespeare.

In August of 1779, Blake was admitted to the Royal Academy. Paying his way by producing art, he eventually ran into a bit of a difference with some of his teachers. Some said that his paintings were “too Michelangelo” or “too extravagant.” After his completion of school, he married Catherine Boucher in 1782. Two years later, Blake’s father died and left the hosiery business to William’s older brother. Later that year, William’s brother, Robert, was struck with illness and eventually died. William, being with Robert when he passed, claimed to have seen Robert’s soul travel through the ceiling.

This was not the only time that William saw his younger brother’s soul. Later, Robert’s came to him as a “vision in the night.” This vision gave him the insight to combine poetry with visual art. By 1789, he had his first copy of his book titled The Songs of Innocence. The entire book, “except the manufacturing of the paper,” was done by Blake and his wife. By 1795, he began printing in full size paintings along with his works.

Blake then moved to Sussex where he began to truly enjoy the true beauty of nature around him. He was hired to paint many pictures of many people, but by 1802, he tired of this trivial task. After a run-in with the military in 1803, Blake moved back to London before he faced trial for sedition. By 1810, Blake had fallen to poverty and paranoia. On August 12, 1827, Blake died. As he began to pass from illness, it is said that he was “singing of the things he saw in heaven.”

http://www.tate.org.uk/learning/worksinfocus/blake/gothic/life_intro.html

PS - I couldn't find this man on Galileo. This site should work though, it was cleared by Dr. Boza.