Henry Fuseli
Swiss born British painter, draughtsman and writer on art (1741–1825)
Henry Fuseli ( FEW-zə-lee, few-ZEL-ee; German: Johann Heinrich Füssli [ˈjoːhan ˈhaɪ̯nʁɪç ˈfyːsli]; 7 February 1741 – 17 April 1825) was a Swiss painter, draughtsman, and writer on art who spent much of his career in Britain.
Many of his successful works depict supernatural experiences, such as The Nightmare. He produced painted works for John Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery and for his own "Milton Gallery". He held the posts of Professor of Painting and Keeper at the Royal Academy. His style had a considerable influence on many younger British artists, including William Blake (1757–1827).
Biography
Fuseli was born on 7 February 1741 in Zürich, the second of 18 children. Among his brothers and sisters were Johann Kaspar and Anna. His father was Johann Caspar Füssli, a painter of portraits and landscapes, and author of Lives of the Helvetic Painters. He intended Henry for the church, and sent him to the Caroline college of Zürich, where he received a classical education. One of his schoolmates there was Johann Kaspar Lavater, with whom he became close friends.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Henry Fuseli” is swiss born British painter, draughtsman and writer on art (1741–1825). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Henry, Fuseli and Swiss, not as a finished interpretation.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q122382. VIAF identifies the subject as 53061. The Library of Congress control number is n79021856. 5 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1741, 1825, 1757 and 1827.
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This entry incorporates text from “Henry Fuseli” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.