The Life and Writings of Henry Fuseli, Volume 3 (of 3)

This third volume gathers the later lectures and essays of a pivotal 18th‑century artist‑scholar, offering a window into his rigorous approach to art history. The material is presented as a series of thoughtful discourses, each aimed at reassessing how the story of painting has been told and what has been overlooked in conventional biographies.

Among the highlights is an incisive lecture that challenges the prevailing method of chronicling art, using Leonardo’s “Last Supper” as a case study to illustrate broader points about originality, imitation, and the limits of eclecticism. The author then turns to a panoramic survey of the Italian schools—Tuscan, Florentine, Siena, Roman, and others—tracing the early emergence of expression, chiaroscuro, and colour while critiquing later artists who, in his view, merely repeated established formulas.

Readers will find a blend of scholarly critique and vivid description that reveals both the intellectual vigor of the lecturer and his deep reverence for the transformative moments that shaped Western painting.