Word and Image in 18th Century British Art

What happens when a piece of literature is translated into art? Can an image ever be as effective as the original text?

During the latter half of the 18th Century, literature and art intertwined in a unique way. There was an overlapping of the ‘sister arts’ and British artists turned to famous texts for their subject matter. Artists also explored the notion of their work being ‘read’ like a book.

Looking at artists such as William Hogarth, Henry Fuseli, William Blake and J.M.W. Turner and their relationships to literature of the day, such as Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’, the Gothic novel and Shakespeare’s plays, the course explores and discusses the connections made between British artists and writers during this period.