The Discovery (recto), Two Sketches of Standing Male Figures (verso)

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

This powerful drawing—a bravura exercise in virtuoso line and tonal washes—illustrates a story from Swiss theologian Ludwig Lavater’s book De Spectris (“On Ghosts”), published in 1569. It describes a priest who, dressed in a sheet, haunts his wealthy niece who is living in his house, in an attempt to rape her and cheat her of her fortune. Terrified, the niece enlists the aid of a friend who exposes the repentant priest. The curious badminton match visible in the background—not in the story, but added by Fuseli as a critical commentary—is a reference to a proverb composed in Latin by the Dutch poet Jacob Cats (1577–1660): Amor ut pila vices exiget , “Love, like a ball, demands reciprocation.”

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