In this scene from Shakespeare’s play Richard III, the villainous Duke of Gloucester skulks behind a pier as the funeral procession for King Henry VI—accompanied by the king’s daughter-in-law, Lady Anne—passes in the background. Her arm raised, Anne curses the Duke, who has murdered both King Henry and her husband. In the next moment, Gloucester will join the procession and brazenly attempt to persuade her to marry him.
Fuseli’s enshadowed duke—a study in evil—is closed and compressed, his arms tautly crossed, while the brilliantly lit Anne—a study in courage—is open and expansive, her arms extended in dramatic oratory.