Victor Frankenstein observing the first stirrings of his creature. Engraving by W. Chevalier after Th. von Holst, 1831.

  • Von Holst, Theodor, 1810-1844
Date:
1831
Reference:
40186i
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view Victor Frankenstein observing the first stirrings of his creature. Engraving by W. Chevalier after Th. von Holst, 1831.

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Credit

Victor Frankenstein observing the first stirrings of his creature. Engraving by W. Chevalier after Th. von Holst, 1831. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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About this work

Description

Mary Shelley described in her novel Frankenstein, or the modern Prometheus, how Victor Frankenstein, a Swiss student at the University of Ingolstadt, Bavaria, created a living being from dead body parts. The creature lies on the floor, its legs astride a skeleton. In the left foreground, an open book. In the background, electrical and chemical apparatus, and a bookcase containing folio volumes on top of which are skulls. An astrological chart is stuck up on a wall. Frankenstein leaves hastily through a door on the right

Publication/Creation

London : H. Colburn and R. Bentley, 1831.

Physical description

1 print : engraving, with etching ; image 9.3 x 7.1 cm

Lettering

Frankenstein. "By the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull, yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs. ... I rushed out of the room.". Page 43. T. Holst del. W. Chevalier sculp.

References note

Max Browne, The romantic art of Theodor von Holst 1810-1844, London 1994, no. 39, pp. 76-77
Robert Woof et al., Hyenas in petticoats: Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley, Grasmere 1997, p. 25
Martin Myrone, Gothic nightmares: Fuseli, Blake and the romantic imagination, London: Tate, 2006, p. 71

Reference

Wellcome Collection 40186i

Exhibitions note

Exhibited in “Electricity: The spark of life” at Teylers Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands, 25 July 2017 – 7 January 2018

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