Study of one of the Quirinal Dioscuri

This is a copy of one the two figures of the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, holding back rearing horses, also known as the Horse Tamers, a Roman replica of a probably 4th century B.C. Greek original found in the Baths of Constantine and placed in the Piazza del Quirinale by Pope Sixtus V (1521-1590). Other studies of the Dioscuri are in G. Schiff, Johann Heinrich Füssli 1741-1825, Munich, 1973, nos. 611 and 634-7. This distinctive male figure recurs so frequently in his work that it became Fuseli's personalised iconographic signature. Often combined with reminiscences of the Apollo Belvedere and with only minor modifications, it is used from the 1770s onwards to depict a whole series of heroes and rebels taken from the Bible: Cain in God placing the mark on Cain after he has killed Abel; Homer (Achilles); the Nibelungenlied (Siegfried); Shakespeare (Hamlet and Macbeth); Milton (Satan) and even in his Caricature of the Artist leaving Italy, 1778.
Harriet Jane Moore was the daughter of James Moore (1761-1809) and Harriet (née Henderson), who were great friends of Fuseli. He was close to the whole family, and Harriet, the eldest daughter, was a particular favourite. This drawing was included in an album she put together of fifty seven drawings which was broken up and sold in these Rooms on 12 April 1992. The album included drawings given to her by Fuseli, as well as some bought from sales.