Belisane and Percival Under the Enchantment of Urma
Medium
Outline engraving and etching
Dimensions
Plate: 9 3/4 × 12 5/8 in. (24.8 × 32 cm) Sheet: 13 9/16 × 19 3/16 in. (34.4 × 48.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Jenny Philippsohn, in memory of Siegfried Philippsohn, 1955
Accession Number
55.526.7
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the evocative print *Belisane and Percival Under the Enchantment of Urma* (1806), Swiss engraver Johann Heinrich Lips collaborates with the visionary artist Henry Fuseli to capture a spellbound moment from medieval romance. Fuseli, a key figure in British Romanticism, drew inspiration from Arthurian legends, depicting the knight Percival and the lady Belisane in a deep, enchanted slumber induced by the sorceress U. This scene evokes the mystical perils of chivalric quests, blending erotic tension with supernatural drama—a hallmark of Fuseli's gothic imagination. Rendered in outline engravi...