Füssli, Johanne Heinrich - The Nightmare

This painting is called the Nightmare and it is by Johanne Heinrich Füssli. It was painted between 1790 and 1791, moreover it is an oil on canvas. The main color is black, above all in the background, but there is something white, like the girl’s dress. In this picture there are three main characters: a young woman, a monster and a horse. In the middle of the picture there is a girl who is lain on a bed. It is covered with big white bedclothes1. The little woman is sleeping, but her face is afraid, so she’s probably having a nightmare. She has got blonde hair and she is wearing a long white dress. She hasn’t got shoes. On her body there is a dark brown demon, maybe a devil. Its face is bad and it is sneering2; it has got pointed3 ears and it is holding something in its hands. At the back there is a dark white horse, which is coming out of two dark red curtains. It is particular because it has got fluorescent yellow eyes. On the right there is a little table; on it there are some glasses and a little container, which probably belong to4 the girl. In the bottom right-hand corner there are two slippers5, probably the girl’s. We’ve chosen this picture because we like a lot the dreams’ world, demons and monsters. We also like visionary painting6, which is characterized by mysterious and disturbing7 scenes.
Notes:
1. Bedclothes = lenzuola
2. (to) Sneer = ghignare
3. Pointed = appuntito
4. (to) Belong to = appartenere a
5. Slippers = pantofole
6. Visionary painting = pittura visionaria
7. Disturbing = inquietante