Henry Fuseli (Swiss, active in England, 1741–1825)
Sketch for "Oath on the Rütli" (recto), Female Figure (verso)
INV-5998
Henry Fuseli (Swiss, active in England, 1741–1825)1779–81 (recto); 1785–90 (verso)
Sketch for "Oath on the Rütli" (recto), Female Figure (verso)
Henry Fuseli (Swiss, active in England, 1741–1825) →18th Centuryoil on canvasoil paintings (visual works)
Date
1779–81 (recto); 1785–90 (verso)
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
76 × 67.5 cm (29 15/16 × 26 9/16 in.); Framed: 79.4 × 69.3 cm (31 1/4 × 27 1/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Anonymous gift
Although Henry Fuseli spent most of his career in England, he was born Johann Heinrich Füssli in Zurich, Switzerland. This is a preliminary study for the artist’s first important commission, The Oath on the Rütli, in Zurich’s city hall. Both the study and the final painting depict the oath sworn on the Rütli meadow in 1291 by representatives of three Swiss cantons (territories) against the ambitions of their Habsburg overlords. This sketch, with its limited palette and loose, expressive brushstrokes, shows the artist thinking through questions of tone and mood.
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