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Dark and foreboding things are going on here—but is this scene meant to capture an otherworldly event or depict the young woman’s own nightmare? And what exactly is the difference between those two things? That ambiguity helped make Fuseli’s Nightmare one of the most famous paintings of the era. Many saw the original, but it was engravings, copies, and parodies that secured it a place in popular imagination. This is the officially approved engraving, which made its London publisher a pretty penny.
The Nightmare
Thomas Burke (English, 1749–1815)
After: Henry Fuseli (Swiss, 1741–1825)
Publisher: John Raphael Smith (English, 1752–1812)
After: Henry Fuseli (Swiss, 1741–1825)
Publisher: John Raphael Smith (English, 1752–1812)
1783
Medium/Technique
Etching and stipple engraving
Dimensions
Image: 19.2 x 23.1 cm (7 9/16 x 9 1/8 in.)
Sheet: 22.5 x 24.9 cm (8 7/8 x 9 13/16 in.)
Sheet: 22.5 x 24.9 cm (8 7/8 x 9 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Margaret and Thomas McCormick
Accession Number2007.921
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPrints
Dark and foreboding things are going on here—but is this scene meant to capture an otherworldly event or depict the young woman’s own nightmare? And what exactly is the difference between those two things? That ambiguity helped make Fuseli’s Nightmare one of the most famous paintings of the era. Many saw the original, but it was engravings, copies, and parodies that secured it a place in popular imagination. This is the officially approved engraving, which made its London publisher a pretty penny.
Catalogue Raisonné
Weinglass 67
DescriptionStipple engraving printed in sanguine ink on tan wove paper
ProvenanceMargaret and Thomas McCormick (Brookline, MA); their gift to MFA, December 12, 2007.