Henry Fuseli RA, A man asleep in bed, a female figure in profile stands on the left

A man asleep in bed, a female figure in profile stands on the left, ca. 1805

Henry Fuseli RA (1741 - 1825)

RA Collection: Art

This black chalk drawing shows a man, wearing a night cap, asleep in his bed. At the foot of the bed is a standing woman in profile wearing long robes, with her arms in a gesture of prayer.

It has been suggested that the drawing is a rejected idea for Fuseli's 'Death of Falstaff', an illustration for Rivington's editions of Shakespeare, published in 1805.

This work comes from one of sixteen volumes of Royal Academy Annual Exhibition catalogues that were collected and extra-illustrated by the lawyer and antiquarian Edward Basil Jupp F.S.A. (1812 - 1877). The catalogues span the period from the first annual exhibition in 1769 up to 1875. Jupp added drawings, prints, letters and autographs by, or referring to, Academicians and other exhibitors at the Academy's annual exhibition.

E.B. Jupp was a solicitor who married Eliza Kay, daughter of the architect William Porden Kay. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a clerk of the Carpenters' Company, of which he published a history. Jupp amassed a large collection of paintings by British and Dutch artists, drawings, prints, books and porcelain most of which was sold after his death, at Christie's in February 1878.

Many of the drawings in Jupp's Royal Academy extra-illustrated volumes were bought from art sales during the 1860s. He was also acquainted with a number of contemporary artists and several drawings in the later volumes (along with many of the letters and autographs) were sent from the artists themselves.

All objects in this group

Object details

Title
A man asleep in bed, a female figure in profile stands on the left
Artist/designer
Henry Fuseli RA (1741 - 1825)
Date
ca. 1805
Object type
Drawing
Medium
Black chalk on off-white laid paper
Dimensions

183 mm x 228 mm

Collection
Royal Academy of Arts
Object number
03/2210
Acquisition
Given by Leverhulme Trust 1936
return to start
back

Start exploring the RA Collection

read more
  • Explore art works, paint-smeared palettes, scribbled letters and more...
  • Artists and architects have run the RA for 250 years.
    Our Collection is a record of them.
Start exploring