The Vision of Catherine of Aragon

Henry Fuseli painted The Vision of Catherine of Aragon around 1781, depicting the first wife of Henry VIII receiving a vision of angels in the tower where she was imprisoned after her repudiation by the king — a subject from Shakespeare's Henry VIII that combined historical drama with supernatural visitation. Catherine's suffering at the hands of Henry's desire for Anne Boleyn gave the subject a feminist dimension that Fuseli's treatment acknowledges through the dignity and spiritual authority he grants the kneeling queen amid the supernatural presences around her. The painting demonstrates his ability to integrate historical drama with supernatural vision in a single image.

Fuseli contrasts the earthly figure of the dying Catherine with ethereal angelic visitants, using dramatic lighting to divide the mortal and spiritual realms. The elongated, flowing forms of the angels exemplify Fuseli's distinctive mannerist figure style.