Milton Dictating to His Daughter

Description

This painting by Swiss artist Henry Fuseli depicts 17th-century English poet John Milton, who became blind in his 40s, dictating his epic poem Paradise Lost. His daughter transcribes his words while another woman listens intently as she sews. A forerunner of the Romantic Movement, Fuseli created drama through chromatic contrast. A cool light illuminates the rosy-cheeked women and casts deep shadows around Milton’s ghostly figure and face. Fuseli created this painting for his Milton Gallery, a self-run enterprise that showcased the artist’s Milton-inspired works. While this entrepreneurial venture failed commercially, it raised Fuseli’s prestige and visibility as an artist.

Provenance

Sent by the artist to William Roscoe, Liverpool, in 1800, apparently in exchange for funds already advanced by Roscoe [Weinglass 1982, pp. 217-18, 224]; sold by Roscoe before August 20, 1802, possibly to John Stuart, 1st marquess of Bute (d. 1814) [see Weinglass 1982, p. 250 for the sale of this and three other paintings, and Warner 1996, p. 219 n. 4 for the likelihood that Bute was the buyer]. In the possession of his grandson, John Crighton-Stuart, 2nd marquess of Bute, by 1831 [Knowles 1831, vol. 1, p. 221 lists Bute as the owner of this painting]. Ernest Permain, London, 1930, possibly on consignment; offered for sale, G. and L. Bollag, Zurich, March 28, 1930, no. 56, pl. VII, bought in [letter of January 24, 1994 from Max Bollag to Malcolm Warner in curatorial file]; sold in London to Galerie Bollag, Zurich, March 10, 1932 [according to letter of Max Bollag cited above and another of December 15, 1993]; private collection of Léon Bollag (d. 1958), Zurich; his estate; then, from 1968, his son Max Bollag, Zurich [according to letters cited above]; sold by him to E. V. Thaw and Co., New York, by February 1973; sold to the Art Institute, 1973.

Milton Dictating to His Daughter

Henry Fuseli

1794

Accession Number

44739

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

121.2 × 118.7 cm (47 3/4 × 46 3/4 in.); Framed: 142.9 × 130.5 cm (56 1/4 × 51 3/8 in.)

Classification

oil on canvas

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Preston O. Morton Memorial Purchase Fund for Older Paintings