Henry Fuseli
1741-1825
Death of Gaius Gracchus
12 1/4 x 16 15/16 inches (312 x 430 mm)
Pen and brown ink and wash, on paper.
1954.2
Purchased on the Fellows Fund.
Notes
Although long identified as a drawing of Meleager due to the inscription at lower left, which quotes a passage pertaining to Meleager in Homer's Iliad (IX, 571-72), the drawing is instead, as recognized by Gert Schiff long ago, a depiction of the Death of Gaius Gracchus as described by Plutarch, showing the death of the Roman in the arms of his slave as he asks the Furies (seen in the distance, at their temple) to take revenge on Rome. A related study is in the British Museum, inv. 1885,0341.266. Drawings related to the quoted passage from the Meleager story are found in the British Museum (inv. 1885,0341.209 and 1885,0341.236) and the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm (inv. NMH 1687/1875).
Inscriptions/Markings
Inscribed in Greek in brown ink at lower left by the artist, "and the Erynus that walketh in darkness heard him from Erebus" [Homer, The Iliad, IX, 571-72]. At right Fuseli's original inscription "Roma Jan 76" has been altered to read "London Jan 76". At lower right added in pencil "W. Blake 1776"; below in pen "W. Blake".
Associated names
Oppé, A. P. (Adolf Paul), 1878-1957 former owner.
Bibliography
Pierpont Morgan Library. Review of Acquisitions, 1949-1968. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1969, p. 147.
Adams, Frederick B., Jr. Fifth Annual Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1954, p. 70-72.
Adams, Frederick B., Jr. Fifth Annual Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1954, p. 70-72.
Classification
Century Drawings
School
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