The Song of Songs, also known as the Song of Solomon or the Canticle of Canticles, is a famous celebration of sensual and passionate love in the Bible that is frequently interpreted as “an allegory of God’s love for his people”.

Edward Wolfe’s Song of Songs was first imagined in gouache and ink on Chinese silver paper around 1930 to accompany a new translation of the Song of Songs by Louis Golding but was never published. The dazzlingly colourful original work was displayed again in 1967 as part of the Arts Council’s “Edward Wolfe” exhibition. From that point on, he thought to print them out, but it took Adrian Lack of the Senecio Press two decades to overcome the technical challenges of doing so to their full effect and to widespread acclaim.