The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli: Gothic theme during the Romanticism era

As a class, we discussed the Gothic theme quite extensively and were shown a picture of a painting (see above) called The Nightmare by Swiss-born English painter Henry Fuseli. Though it does represent the Gothic style, it's actually considered a Romanticist painting.

It was made in 1781 in London, England and was quite shocking to the public, though many knew he was an odd man who was interested in painting the supernatural and dream-like already. His audience wondered what happened to the popular themes that came about in paintings at the time- there was no moralizing subject, there was no historical significance in the scene, there was nothing from the Bible or literature in the painting, it was simply a result of Fuseli's imagination. This puzzled critics and visitors of the Royal Academy exhibition, where it hung, because they were expecting something from what we now call the Enlightenment, or the “Age of Reason,” but this is what they got.

The light Fuseli uses in the painting seems to emphasize the innocence and virtue of the woman (her white gown) and make the horse's eyes pop out even more, which creates a creepy vibe. The shadows and darkness enveloping the characters emphasizes this even more.

People believe this was Fuseli's interpretation of nightmares coming to life, and I'm sure no one can debate that. The creepy figure on the woman's chest is considered to be an incubus, which is “a type of spirit said to lie atop people in their sleep or even to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women.” Though the title seems to be a pun on the horse in the background (night mare, mare meaning horse), it has another meaning behind it. According to Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language (1755), a “mare” or “mara” used to be defined as “a spirit that, in heathen mythology, was related to torment or to suffocate sleepers. A morbid oppression in the night resembling the pressure of weight upon the breast.” The horse wasn't there in the original painting, but was added as a final touch by Fuseli with no known reason, though it could be to surprise, shock, or horrify the crowd even more than they already were when looking at the evil spirit. There is a possibility he added it as a symbolic representation of the word “nightmare.”

Because of it's dark, mysterious features, it inspired many writers such as the poet Erasmus Darwin (Charles Darwin's grandfather), Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, and many others. It is now considered an icon and has been used several times in parodies and comedic drawings.

Source:http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/henry-fuseli-the-nightmare-1781.html