Soon after his return to England, Fuseli painted his "Nightmare," which
was exhibited in 1782. It was unquestionably the work of an original
mind. "The extraordinary and peculiar genius which it displayed," says
one of his biographers, "was universally felt, and perhaps no single
picture ever made a greater impression in this country. A very fine
mezzotinto engraving of it was scraped by Raphael Smith, and so popular
did the print become, that, although Mr. Fuseli received only twenty
guineas for the picture, the publisher made five hundred by his
speculation." This was a subject suitable to the unbridled fancy of the
painter, and perhaps to no other imagination has the Fiend which murders
our sleep ever appeared in a more poetical shape.