The Nightmare

Henry Fuseli

1781 · Oil on canvas · Detroit Institute of Arts

Size2:3 ratio

Frame

$59Unframed print · made to order

📦 Free shipping on every order, arriving in 4–9 business days with production included. Express ($14.90) at checkout arrives in 4–6 business days.

Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

The Nightmare

Charles IV of Spain and His Family

The Second of May 1808

3 × $59 at 16 × 24 in, unframed = $177 → $159.30 as a set · 10% included · free shipping

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Giclée-printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper

Free shipping worldwide · arrives in 4–9 business days

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free

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About this work

Artist: Henry Fuseli (1741–1825)
Year: 1781
Medium: Oil on canvas
Original size: 101.6 × 127 cm
Collection: Detroit Institute of Arts
Movement: Romanticism

A woman in white lies flung back across a bed with her head and arms hanging over the edge while a squat incubus crouches on her chest and a horse with blind, glowing eyes pushes its head through the red curtains behind. Fuseli painted it in 1781 and showed it at the Royal Academy in 1782, where it caused a sensation and was engraved within months; it hung in Freud's waiting room, was parodied by Rowlandson and Gillray and has been the model for every picture of a bad dream since. The mare of the title is a demon, not the horse, which is Fuseli's visual pun. The picture is thought to carry his unrequited passion for Anna Landolt, whose portrait is on the back. The Detroit Institute of Arts bought it in 1955.

This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.

Where it works

A woman in white flung back across a bed beneath a crouching demon and a wild-eyed horse, in white, red and black, for a study, library or hallway at 24×36 in black. Deep red, charcoal or dark green walls suit the melodrama; pair it with Saturn or The Sleep of Reason.

Style, size & framing detail

Style: Exhibition poster of a Romanticism painting
Era: 18th century (1781)
Orientation: Portrait
Palette: cream & beige
Mood: grand
Rooms: hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room, dorm room
Good gift for: housewarming, art lovers

Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.

Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.

Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).

Details & materials

• Exhibition poster — original, drawn in-house • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in; every size also available framed • Framed option: wood frame in black or natural wood, 12 mm wide and 22 mm deep, with a plexiglass front and no mat; the print is mounted inside and the frame's outside measures the listed size • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Printed after you order at the facility nearest you, then shipped. Standard delivery is free and takes 4–9 business days from order to door in the US, UK and EU (up to 10 elsewhere); Express takes 4–6 business days. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The exhibition-poster edition sets the complete image above typography designed in-house.

Is The Nightmare in the public domain?

Yes. Henry Fuseli (1741–1825) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by Detroit Institute of Arts.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 12×18, 16×24 and 24×36 inches; every size is also offered framed in black or natural wood, with plexiglass and no mat. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was The Nightmare painted, and in what medium?

The Nightmare dates from 1781 and was made in oil on canvas; the original measures 101.6 × 127 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

Across a three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 24×36 is the size that reads as one statement piece; 16×24 suits a narrower wall or a pair. For The Nightmare we'd choose 24×36.

About this design

A museum-exhibition poster of Henry Fuseli's The Nightmare — a woman flung back across a bed with a demon crouched on her chest and a wild-eyed horse behind — shown whole and uncropped beneath gallery typography. The Gothic Imagination, styled as a blockbuster exhibition print. A gallery-style exhibition poster: a celebrated public-domain artwork shown whole and uncropped beneath original exhibition typography set in-house — printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Every size is offered unframed or framed in black or natural wood. Part of the Madten Exhibition Posters Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

Buy with confidence

The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in 4–9 business days.

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