Fuseli, who had moved to England in 1763, returned to his native Zurich only once for a six-month visit in 1778-79. During those months, he made a number of portraits of Martha Hess, the niece of Fuseli's boyhood friend Johann Kaspar Lavater. Two of these portraits were later used as illustrations for Lavater's famous book on judging character from facial features, the so-called Essays on Physiognomy. -- Exhibition Label, from "Life Lines: Portrait Drawings from Dürer to Picasso."
Oppé, A. P. (Adolf Paul), 1878-1957, former owner.
Calmann, Hans M., former owner.
Crane, Josephine Boardman, 1873-1972, donor.
Pierpont Morgan Library. Review of Acquisitions, 1949-1968. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1969, p. 146.
Adams, Frederick B., Jr. Fifth Annual Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1954, p. 70-72.
Wiles, Stephanie. To Observe and Imagine : British Drawings, 1600-1900. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1998. no. 44, repr.
From Leonardo to Pollock: Master drawings from the Morgan Library. New York: Morgan Library, 2006, cat. no. 60, p. 128-129.