Art after self evidence : Fuseli, Blake, and Banks

Abstract

This article examines artworks by Henry Fuseli, William Blake, and Thomas Banks in relation to changing notions of “self evidence” at the turn of the nineteenth century. It considers how models of artistic neoclassicism and scientific experimental procedures shared an investment in the evidentiary authority of an idealized male body. Exploring the gendered and racial hierarchies operative in such an ideal, this article also charts its unraveling.