“The Nightmare” Before Freud We Had Art… By Swiss Artist Henry Fuseli 1781

Henry Fuseli (1741–1825) was a Swiss-born painter whose dramatic, dream-soaked visions helped shape the darker side of Romantic art. He was endlessly fascinated by mythology, subconscious desire, and the supernatural, and he used his work to step away from the ordinary world and paint the kind of turmoil that usually stays hidden inside the human mind. His style—full of theatrical poses, tension, and sharp contrasts of light and shadow—made him one of the most distinctive artists of the late 18th century.
His most famous painting, The Nightmare (1781), captures that haunting mix of terror and desire he was drawn to. In the scene, a woman lies deep in sleep, her body completely surrendered, while an incubus presses on her chest and a ghostly horse watches from the shadows. It isn’t meant to show something literal. Instead, it turns the invisible world of nightmares, sleep paralysis, and the power of the unconscious into something we can actually see.
When it was first shown, The Nightmare caused an immediate sensation. People were shocked, intrigued, and strangely pulled toward it. And even now, centuries later, the painting continues to inspire new interpretations—in psychology, literature, and even the way we picture horror today.

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