The Life and Writings of Henry Fuseli, Volume 1 (of 3) — Themes and Context

Knowles as 'Honest Chronicler'

The dedication to the Countess Dowager of Guilford reveals Knowles's method and limitations. He writes that he has 'endeavoured to speak of him as he was,' but admits he kept no journal during Fuseli's life, so the memoir can only offer 'an adumbration of his professional merit.' This is not a neutral biography: Knowles was Fuseli's executor and clearly an admirer. The excerpts show him praising Fuseli's ability to move between the 'Pensieroso' and 'Allegro' modes, comparing him directly to Milton. Readers should expect a sympathetic portrait, not a critical assessment. Knowles's voice is present throughout, shaping the narrative with personal recollections and defensive justifications of Fuseli's commercial failures.

The Milton Gallery: Ambition and Reception

The excerpts describe Fuseli's Milton Gallery in detail, listing pictures such as 'Satan calling up his Legions' and 'The Vision of the Lazar-house,' which Knowles calls 'the chef-d'œuvre of the Gallery.' He explains that Fuseli deliberately avoided disgusting bodily diseases from Milton's poem, focusing instead on 'the maladies of the mind.' Yet the exhibition was a financial disaster: receipts in the first month were only £117, and the total did not cover rent and expenses. Knowles blames hostile newspapers that refused to insert advertisements or favorable paragraphs, even for money. This section of the biography is less about art criticism than about the practical difficulties of exhibiting ambitious history painting in early 19th-century London. The catalog subject 'Art—Italy—History' does not prepare the reader for this detailed account of a single failed exhibition.

Fuseli's Literary Remains and Classical Learning

Knowles emphasizes Fuseli's 'profound classical attainments and critical knowledge,' and the volume includes his lectures delivered at the Royal Academy. The excerpts show Fuseli drawing on Milton, Horace, and Velleius Paterculus (whose phrase 'Animo vidit, ingenio complexus est, eloquentiâ illuminavit' appears on the title page). The picture descriptions are interwoven with poetic quotations, suggesting that Fuseli's art was deeply literary. However, the catalog subjects list only 'Art' and 'Painters—Switzerland—Biography,' omitting the extensive literary and critical content. Readers interested in Fuseli's writings on art will find more here than a simple biography; the volume is a collection of his prose, including lectures and notes on painting, edited by a devoted friend.

Knowles's volume is best approached as a primary source for Fuseli's reputation among his contemporaries, not as a modern critical biography. The editor's personal involvement colors every page, from the defensive account of the Milton Gallery to the admiring descriptions of Fuseli's classical learning. Readers should compare Knowles's claims with other accounts of Fuseli's career and note that the biography's structure—mixing life narrative with lectures and picture lists—reflects the 1830s practice of memorializing artists through their own words. The catalog subjects understate the literary and critical content of this work.