The Nightmare, Henry Fuseli, 1781; The Nightmare, engraving after Fuseli by Thomas Burke; The Nightmare Henri Fuseli, 1791; The Nightmare, engraving after Fuseli by Thomas Halloway

Images are from Wikimedia Commons; original of the first version is in the Detroit Institute of Arts

This 18th century painting by English-Swiss artist Henry Fuseli has become one of those famous and familiar images that is hard to see with fresh eyes — as a painting rather than a cultural icon.

The painting achieved almost immediate notoriety in its time, critics found it scandalous and improper due to the sexual nature of the work. An engraving by Thomas Burke was widely popular, and the image became the subject of cartoons and other mention in popular culture.

Though the painting appears to depict both dream and dreamer, it may be more likely that it is the artist’s nightmare — one of unrequited love, representing a young woman with whom Fuseli was in love and proposed marriage to, but whose father disapproved and who married another not long after. Perhaps the demon is a stand-in for the woman’s eventual husband.

The painting was so popular that Fuseli painted several other versions. The most famous of the three surviving alternative versions was done in 1870 or 1871, for which there was an engraving by Thomas Halloway.

See my post on Henry Fuseli.

L’abside de Notre-Dame de Paris (The Apsis of the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris), Charles Meryon

Etching with engraving and drypoint, state 3 of 9; 6 1/2 x 3 3/4 (16.5x29cm).

Link is to zoomable version on Google Art Project, original is in the National Gallery of Art, DC, which has downloadable files; but you have to create a (free) account to get the highest-resolution version.

This beautiful mid-19th century etching captures not only the striking presence of the cathedral, but the activity on the quay and the flights of birds across the sky. I love Meryon’s handling of the clouds in particular.

Like most prints of its kind, this image was printed as multiple impressions in multiple states; you will find variations of the print in other collections, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick Collection.