On view
European Art
Woman with a sword,
1790s
Henry Fuseli, 1741–1825; born Zurich, Switzerland; died London, United Kingdom
x1948-993
Fuseli used drawing to work through the challenges of depicting this woman wielding a large blade, resolving the position of limbs or the fall of clothing in fast, successive strokes of chalk, which he further clarified with white highlights. Although he was working at the height of the Enlightenment, which extolled rationalist and empiricist values, Fuseli often turned to dark, enigmatic, and supernatural subjects, exploring the human psyche. This drawing is perhaps a study for a now-lost painting of Princess Kriemhild from the Nibelungenlied (Song of the Nibelungs), a twelfth-century epic poem based on earlier Germanic oral sagas that were rediscovered in the 1750s. Here Kriemhild, carrying the outsize sword of her murdered husband, plots revenge. The speed and layering of Fuseli’s marks enhance the feeling of nervous frenzy appropriate to the princess’s vengeful mindset.
Information
Title
Woman with a sword
Dates
1790s
Maker
Medium
Black and white chalk, with touches of red chalk
Dimensions
41.2 x 34.5 cm (16 1/4 x 13 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Dan Fellows Platt, Class of 1895
Object Number
x1948-993
Culture
Type
Materials
Frederick Richard Meatyard (1881-1966), London; Dan Fellows Platt (1873–1937), 1925; bequeathed to Princeton University Art Museum, 1937.
