Henry Fuseli
Swiss, active in England, 1741-1825
The Spirit of Knowledge
INV-1500
Henry Fuseli
Swiss, active in England, 1741-18251798
The Spirit of Knowledge
Henry Fuseli Swiss, active in England, 1741-1825 →chalk and washdrawings (visual works)
Date
1798
Medium
Black chalk and brush and gray wash on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
18.2 × 22.3 cm (7 3/16 × 8 13/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Given in honor of Dorothy Braude Edinburg by Lowell Libson and the Directors of Spink-Leger
One of the most original and probing artists of the late 18th century, Fuseli worked principally in London but went to Rome for eight years beginning in 1770. The influence of Michelangelo’s prophets and sibyls is tangible in this allegorical figure, probably drawn in London a decade after he left Rome; at this time Fuseli had recently met William Blake, who treated a similar subject in his Book of Job.
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