- 216
Henry Fuseli, R.A.
Description
- Henry Fuseli, R.A.
- Lysander with Helena and Hermia, from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- oil on canvas
Provenance
Exhibited
Catalogue Note
In 1765 Fuseli arrived in England from Rome. During the next decade he was increasingly turning to the plays of Shakespeare for suitable subjects and this culminated in his work on Alderman Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery, to which he was the main contributor. Other paintings taken from A Midsummer Night’s Dream were Titania and Bottom (Tate Gallery, London), The Awakening of Titania (Kunstmuseum, Winterhur), Puck (Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington), Cobweb (formerly Jeannerat Collection), Titania and Bottom (Kunsthaus, Zurich), and Titania’s Dream (Sandoz Collection).
When this painting was last sold in 1990 it was shown to Professor Gert Schiff and Professor David Weinglass, both of whom endorsed the attribution. It was to be included in Professor Weinglass' revision of Schiff’s catalogue raisonné of Fuseli's work, but the book has not yet been published.