which provoked an animated reply from James Barry [q. v.] He also, at the suggestion of his friend, John Bonnycastle [q. v.], plunged into the controversy then raging between Voltaire and Rousseau, with a spirited pamphlet in defence of Rousseau; the greater part of this impression was accidentally destroyed by fire at Johnson's shop, and not much regretted by the author. In 1766 he became travelling tutor to Viscount Chewton, the eldest son of Earl Waldegrave, but his impetuous nature was not suitable to the office, and in 1767 he returned to London. Happening to obtain an introduction to Sir Joshua Reynolds, he produced a portfolio of his drawings; Reynolds was surprised to find that he had never been in Italy, and also that he was doubtful of his artistic abilities, and urged him most strongly to become a painter. Thus encouraged he devoted himself entirely to drawing, and tried his hand at oil-painting. His first picture, ‘Joseph interpreting the dreams of the butler and baker of Pharaoh,’ was purchased by his friend Johnson; it is now in the possession of Hon. Henry Dudley Ryder. In 1769 he started with Armstrong for a tour in Italy. They sailed for Leghorn, quarrelled during a tedious voyage, and parted upon their arrival. Fuseli (or Fuzely), as the artist now called himself to suit the Italian pronunciation, proceeded alone to Rome, where he arrived on 9 Feb. 1770. Here he remained eight years, studying most energetically the works of the great masters, and above all Michelangelo, by whose great genius he was influenced to an exaggerated degree, much as Spranger and Goltzius had been, though he was fully aware of their mistakes. His abilities gained him many friends and numerous commissions. In 1774 there appeared at the Royal Academy exhibition a drawing of ‘The death of Cardinal Beaufort,’ by—Fuseli at Rome; in 1775, at the exhibition of the Society of Artists at Exeter Change, ‘Hubert yielding to the entreaties of Prince Arthur,’ by Mr. Fuseli at Rome; and in 1777, at the Royal Academy, ‘A Scene in Macbeth,’ by—Fusole at Rome. A book of drawings made by him in Rome (preserved in the print room at the British Museum) contains numerous sketches, embodying many of the ideas from Milton, Dante, and Shakespeare, which he afterwards worked up into his more famous pictures. He visited Venice, Naples, and Pompeii, and on leaving Rome in 1778 returned through Lombardy to Switzerland; here he revisited his family and friends at Zurich, remained there six months, fell in love but was unsuccessful in his suit, and painted a picture of ‘The Confederacy of the Founders of Helvetian Liberty’ for his native town. In 1779 he was back in London, and lodging at 100 St. Martin's Lane with John Cartwright [q. v.], a fellow student with him at Rome. Fuseli renewed his intimacy with his old friends (including Armstrong, who paid him a handsome compliment in his ‘Art of Preserving Health,’ ii. 236), and made several new ones, notably William Lock [q. v.] of Norbury and his son, and Dr. Moore [q. v.], author of ‘Zeluco,’ with whose family he became on terms of special intimacy. In 1780 he again exhibited at the Royal Academy, sending ‘Ezzelin Bracciaferro musing over Meduna, slain by him for disloyalty during his absence in the Holy Land’ (a subject of his own invention, formerly in the Angerstein Collection), ‘Satan starting from the touch of Ithuriel's spear,’ and ‘Jason appearing before Pelias.’ These pictures excited much attention, and obtained a prominent place by the direction of Sir Joshua Reynolds. In 1781 he painted, and in 1782 exhibited, his picture of ‘The Nightmare,’ which at once took the popular fancy, and insured his future success; he painted several versions of it (one is in the possession of the Earl of Harrowby), and numerous engravings were made from them. A large drawing of this subject is in the print room at the British Museum. In 1781 his father died at Zurich, and in the same year Fuseli painted an interview between himself and his aged tutor, Bodmer, which he sent to Zurich. In 1786 Alderman Boydell [q. v.] started his scheme of a Shakespeare gallery, and invited Fuseli to contribute; such a scheme had occupied Fuseli's mind at Rome when musing in the Sistine Chapel, as is shown by the sketch-book mentioned above. He contributed one small picture and eight large, including ‘Titania and Bottom’ (now in the National Gallery), ‘Macbeth and the Witches,’ and ‘Hamlet and his Father's Ghost;’ the last filled with awe the minds of the spectators, and, though extravagant in its execution, possessed real power. He also painted some pictures for Woodmason's ‘Shakespeare.’ On 30 June 1788 Fuseli married Sophia Rawlins of Bath Easton, near Bath, who is stated to have been one of his models, and often sat to him after marriage; she proved an affectionate and patient, if not very intelligent, wife, to whom he was sincerely attached. He now removed to 72 Queen Anne Street East (now Foley Street), and, in consequence of his marriage, overcame his reluctance to be connected with any associated body of artists, and became a candidate for the Royal Academy. He was elected associate 3 Nov. 1788, and academician 10 Feb. 1790, beating Bonomi [q. v.] on the
Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 20.djvu/342
