An Old Man Murdered by Three Younger Men Gm-00009901

Johann Heinrich Fuseli (Swiss, 1741–1825) Johann Heinrich Fuseli once told student Benjamin Haydon: "[A] subject should interest, astonish, or move; if it did none of these it was worth nothing, by God."

Dramatically lit behind dark, parted curtains, a group of figures encircle an old man and brutally stab him. Starkly opposing areas of dark and light intensify the drama: the paper's brilliant whiteness contrasts with the black curtains and the murderers' menacing shadows. This drawing typifies the horrific scenes in which Fuseli specialized.


Fuseli selected his themes from literature, but his idiosyncratic interpretation can make it difficult to identify exact subjects. The curtain creates the stagelike effect, which, along with the linear, abstract representation of monumental figures, recall Fuseli's Shakespearean drawings of the early 1770s, made during his years in Italy. The classicizing representation of the figures may have been inspired by the Hellenistic sculpture Niobid Groupin the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence.

High Quality Wood Framed Print using museum quality paper and archival inks with a white border or with cut mat for a contemporary look. Comes with Acrylite glazing and hanging hardware. These are Made in USA or Europe depending upon your location.

Stretched Canvas is stretched over 1.25" thick pine bars and printed on heavy cotton poly matte finish canvas. Comes with mounting brackets. These are Made in USA or Europe depending upon your location.

Giclee Prints are printed on 260gsm satin finish using the finest archival inks. Each print carries a white border around the perimeter. The listed size refers to the overall paper dimensions. The image is printed proportionally within this paper size and includes a small white border. These are Made in USA or Europe depending upon your location.

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Artwork in this collection is from The J. Paul Getty Museum. Reproduction rights are reserved by the copyright owner and used under license by Archivea.