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[Illustration: HENRY FUSELI ESQre]
Engraved by Deane from a Painting by Harlow
London, Published by Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley, 1830.
THE LIFE
AND
WRITINGS
OF
HENRY FUSELI, Esq. M.A. R.A.
KEEPER, AND PROFESSOR OF PAINTING TO THE ROYAL ACADEMY IN LONDON;
MEMBER OF THE FIRST CLASS OF THE ACADEMY OF ST. LUKE AT ROME.
THE FORMER WRITTEN, AND THE LATTER EDITED BY
JOHN KNOWLES, F.R.S.
CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY AT ROTTERDAM,
HIS EXECUTOR.
"Animo vidit, ingenio complexus est, eloquentiâ illuminavit."
_Velleius Paterculus in Ciceronem._
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
HENRY COLBURN AND RICHARD BENTLEY,
NEW BURLINGTON STREET.
MDCCCXXXI.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,
Dorset-street, Fleet-street.
TO
THE RIGHT HONORABLE
SUSAN,
COUNTESS DOWAGER OF GUILFORD,
BARONESS NORTH AND GUILFORD.
MADAM,
I feel a degree of diffidence in dedicating to your Ladyship the Life
and Posthumous Works of Henry Fuseli; because, with regard to the
former, no one is better acquainted with the extent of his talents, or
can form a more accurate opinion of the powers of his conversation, and
the excellent qualities of his head and heart, than yourself. In giving
some account of his life and pursuits, I have endeavoured to speak of
him as he was, and to become his "honest chronicler." How far I have
succeeded, it is for your Ladyship to form a judgment. Had it ever
occurred to me, during his lifetime, that it would be my lot to become
his Biographer, I should have kept a Journal, and thus have been enabled
to present to you, and to the world, a more copious and rich view of his
colloquial powers. But as this is not the case, if the Memoir bring to
your remembrance the general power of his genius, or give an adumbration
of his professional merit; if it convey impressions of his profound
classical attainments and critical knowledge, and recall with them the
simplicity of his domestic habits, my end is fully answered.
It is not for me to make an apology for sending to the public, under the
high support of your Ladyship's name, the posthumous works of my friend;
as these, I know, will be acceptable to you; and many of them have
already received the highest encomiums, when delivered as Lectures
before the Members of the Royal Academy of Arts.
I am fully certain that if the mind which dictated these works, could
now be conscious of the fact, no circumstance would give to it greater
satisfaction, than the knowledge of their appearing under the sanction
of your patronage.
I have the honour to subscribe myself,
Madam,
Your Ladyship's most obedient,
And obliged humble servant,
JOHN KNOWLES.
4, Osnaburgh Street, Regent's Park,
24th March, 1830.
ADVERTISEMENT.
In offering to the public the Life and a complete edition of the
literary Works of Henry Fuseli, I feel myself called upon to state the
sources whence the former has been drawn.
The daily intercourse and sincere friendship which subsisted for many
years between this great artist and myself, afforded me the opportunity
of witnessing his domestic habits, hearing many of the incidents of his
life, and watching his career as an artist; and, being executor to his
will, his professional as well as private papers came into my
possession. Independently of these advantages, I have been in
correspondence with the nearest branches of his family, (at Zurich, in
Switzerland,) and from their kindness have obtained many particulars of
his early life, together with the correction of some previously
inaccurate dates. Whatever estimate, therefore, may be formed of my
work, as a literary production, the particulars have been gathered from
the most authentic and unquestionable sources.
With respect to his works, it may be necessary to state that the first
Six Lectures were published in a quarto volume under Mr. Fuseli's own
superintendence, and were printed in a more extended form than that in
which they were delivered; additional observations having been inserted
for the press, and notes added to indicate the authorities whence his
opinions were derived. They are now reprinted from a copy in my
possession, in which are noted some corrections by the author.
The remaining Six Lectures are published from the manuscripts in his own
hand-writing, without any addition, omission, or alteration.
The Aphorisms were collated, and re-copied fairly some years before the
death of the author: these are printed _verbatim_ as he intended they
should come before the public.
The History of the Italian Schools of Art will be found to contain the
professional lives of Michael Angelo, Raffaelle, Titian, Correggio, and
other great masters, with the author's criticisms on their works. Most
of the observations on Art were made by Fuseli while in Italy and
France, after a close inspection of the frescoes, pictures, or works in
sculpture, which he describes or criticises; and the particulars of the
lives of the artists were deduced from a careful perusal and comparison
of the most elaborate and esteemed works in which they have been
recorded.
The reader will notice, that, in a few instances, the same notions and
expressions are repeated; a circumstance which occasioned from an
eminent artist, (the late Sir Thomas Lawrence,) for whose opinion and
talents I had great respect, a recommendation to "use the
pruning-knife." But it appeared to me, after due consideration, to be
preferable that I should print the manuscripts as they came into my
hands; for to have omitted these passages might have disturbed the
connexion of the reasoning and rendered the author's ideas less apparent
to the reader; I therefore present his works to the world without any
omission, alteration, or addition on my part.
John Knowles.
CONTENTS
OF
THE FIRST VOLUME.
CHAPTER I.
Fuseli's birth and family.--Passion for drawing manifested in his
childhood.--His destination for the Church.--Singular cause of
_ambidexterity_.--Fuseli's early fondness for entomology.--He
enters the Collegium Carolinum at Zurich.--His associates there:
Lavater, Usteri, Tomman, Jacob and Felix Hess.--Professors Bodmer
and Breitinger.--His partiality for Shakspeare, &c.--His turn for
satire called forth at the College.--He courts the Poetic
Muse.--Enters into holy orders at the same time with
Lavater.--State of Pulpit oratory in Zurich.--Fuseli and Lavater
become champions of the public cause against a magistrate of
Zurich.--Quits Zurich Page 1