The Dream of Queen Katherine (Shakespeare, Henry VIII, Act IV, Scene 2)

Fuseli's Dream of Queen Katherine from 1781 depicts the vision Shakespeare describes in Henry VIII (Act IV, Scene 2), in which the dying Katherine is attended by figures representing the immortal spirits who will conduct her to heaven. This was one of Fuseli's earliest submissions to the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery, which commissioned leading British painters to visualize Shakespeare's plays for an ambitious print publication and public gallery. Fuseli's interpretation emphasized the supernatural and visionary dimension of Shakespeare's text — the dream rendered as an experience of overwhelming visual beauty and spectral presence — establishing the approach to Shakespeare's supernatural elements that would define his contributions throughout the gallery project.

Fuseli's visionary technique creates a dramatic contrast between the earthly sickroom and the heavenly apparition. The angelic figures are rendered with luminous, floating forms and dramatic, elongated proportions. The dark palette of the earthly setting contrasts with the brilliant, otherworldly light of the vision.