Odin in the Underworld
1770/72
Medium
Brush and gray wash and graphite, with touches of pen and brown ink and red chalk, on cream laid paper
Dimensions
58.6 × 44.4 cm (23 1/8 × 17 1/2 in.)
Classification
ink or chalk wash
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
84469
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Poet and scholar Thomas Gray’s The Descent of Odin (published 1768), a loose translation of an Old Norse poem, inspired this strange image—an exercise in nearly pure wash devoid of line. Fuseli’s drawing depicts the Norse god Odin descending into the underworld to learn the fate of his beloved son Balder. The arms emerging from the ground belong to the prophetess with whom Odin consults. Above is a vision of the Valkyries mourning at Balder’s tomb. Fuseli’s image of Odin is a clever adaptation ...
About the Artist
Henry Fuseli · 1741–1825
Henry Fuseli (1741-1825), born Johann Heinrich Füssli in Zürich, was a Swiss-British painter whose visionary works exploring dreams, nightmares, and psychological terror made him one of the most original figures of the Romantic movement. His art bridged Neoclassical discipline with Romantic emotionalism, creating images of supernatural intensity that would influence artists from William Blake to t...