Which is the most horrifying painting and what made it so?

 Art is a matter of taste and the impact of one artwork can vary from one to another. But, there is one classic painting that fascinates and terrifies the collective imagination than the rest. That is the nightmare by Henry Fuseli

Let us try to deconstruct it and think what it is making this painting a successful one

To consider one artwork as popular then it must communicate with men of all sectors and cognitive capabilities. It must terrify both the peasant and the king. Both the Jack and the Intellectual.

What is the first reading?

A woman sleeping. She is not sleeping. she seems like tired and unable to move. Your unconscious will picks that up very quickly. Images are having deep impact on your unconscious than words. 

Then we see a figure on top of her sitting. It looks directly towards us. Consciously we don't know what it is. without having any cultural conditioning, this is the read.

Then there is another figure which is a horse.

Second reading. Digging a little deeper.

Let us see what our collective interpretation is about this painting

Wikipedia writes: The Nightmare is a 1781 oil painting by Swiss artist Henry Fuseli. It shows a woman in deep sleep with her arms thrown below her, and with a demonic and ape-like incubus crouched on her chest.

What is an incubus?

An incubus (pl.: incubi) is a demon in male form in folklore that seeks to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women; the corresponding spirit in female form is called a succubus. Parallels exist in many cultures.

From this much itself we have understood the painting can communicate with deep archetypal layers.That is made possible by the inclusion of the character Incubus

Wikipedia: One of the earliest evident mentions of a demon sharing qualities to an incubus comes from Mesopotamia on the Sumerian King List, circa 2400 BC, where the hero Gilgamesh's father is listed as Lilu.^[4]

It dates back to 2400 bc. So basically what you are looking at and communicating is something which is more than 4000 year old. Your response to that painting is the neurological wiring that happened in this timeline. People who have been lived in that mythological / folklorish geography/ time will respond better to this than those who haven't lived. Or is it? Am I wrong?

Is there something called collective consciousness? Does a specific image trigger all human beings irrespective of their race, religion or nationality and the culture they are programmed by?  Does this image do that?

Let us ask ChatGPT about the Jungian interpretation with quotes

The Nightmare: A Jungian Interpretation

1. The Unconscious and the Shadow

   • Jung believed that the unconscious mind plays a crucial role in our psyche, storing repressed fears, desires, and memories. In "The Nightmare," the sleeping woman represents the conscious mind, while the demonic incubus and the ghostly horse symbolize the darker, unconscious forces.
   • Quote: "The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real." (Jung, Aion, CW 9ii, para. 14)

2. The Incubus as a Shadow Figure

   • The incubus perched on the woman's chest can be seen as an embodiment of the shadow, representing suppressed desires and primal fears. The weight of the incubus on the chest evokes the sensation of sleep paralysis, a common phenomenon where one feels an oppressive presence and an inability to move.
   • Quote: "Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is." (Jung, Psychology and Religion, CW 11, para. 131)

3. The Horse as a Symbol of Instinctual Forces

   • The ghostly horse, with its wild and unrestrained appearance, can be interpreted as a symbol of untamed instinctual forces lurking in the unconscious. Jung often associated animals in dreams with instinctual drives and energies.
   • Quote: "The horse represents the dynamism of the animal drive." (Jung, Man and His Symbols, p. 239)

4. The Anima and the Feminine Aspect

   • The sleeping woman could also be seen as an embodiment of the anima, the feminine aspect of the male psyche, according to Jung. Her vulnerability and passive state may reflect the unconscious and often repressed feminine qualities within the male psyche.
   • Quote: "The anima is not the soul in the dogmatic sense, not an anima rationalis, but a natural archetype that satisfactorily sums up all the statements of the unconscious, of the primitive mind, of the history of language and religion." (Jung, Two Essays on Analytical Psychology, CW 7, para. 327)

5. Projection and Repression

• Jung believed that nightmares often arise from the projection of repressed content from the unconscious. The painting could be seen as an illustration of such a projection, where the woman's fears and desires manifest as external, monstrous figures.
• Quote: "Projections change the world into the replica of one's own unknown face." (Jung, Aion, CW 9ii, para. 17)

"The Nightmare" and Sleep paralysis

Approximately 8% to 40% people suffer from sleep paralysis at least once in their lifetime. 

"Fuseli’s 'The Nightmare' is often cited as a visual representation of the sleep paralysis experience. The demon-like incubus sitting on the woman's chest reflects the sensation of chest pressure and the overwhelming terror reported by many who suffer from sleep paralysis."

Ask chatGPT about the book written on this with quote

1. "Sleep Paralysis: Night-mares, Nocebos, and the Mind-Body Connection" by Shelley R. Adler

• Adler's book examines sleep paralysis from various cultural and medical perspectives, linking the phenomenon to the universal experience of nightmarish visions.
• Quote: "The most common feature of sleep paralysis is the sensation of a malevolent presence. This sense of presence is often accompanied by extreme fear, and frequently by the perception of actual sounds, sights, or tactile sensations. These hallucinations often include an intruder or demon sitting on the chest, as vividly portrayed in Fuseli's 'The Nightmare.'"

2. "Sleep Paralysis: Historical, Psychological, and Medical Perspectives" edited by J. Allan Cheyne and Steve J. Rushton

• This edited volume offers a comprehensive look at sleep paralysis, including its historical interpretations and its representation in art.
• Quote: "Fuseli’s 'The Nightmare' is often cited as a visual representation of the sleep paralysis experience. The demon-like incubus sitting on the woman's chest reflects the sensation of chest pressure and the overwhelming terror reported by many who suffer from sleep paralysis."

Interpretations of "The Nightmare"

1. "Art and Science of Sleep Medicine" edited by Meir H. Kryger, Thomas Roth, and William C. Dement

• This book provides insights into how sleep disorders, including sleep paralysis, have influenced art and culture.
• Quote: "Henri Fuseli’s painting 'The Nightmare' is a striking depiction of the hallucinatory experiences often reported during sleep paralysis. The oppressive figure on the sleeper’s chest symbolizes the crushing weight many individuals feel, while the eerie horse peering through the curtains represents the pervasive sense of an evil presence."

2. "The Science of Sleep: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It Matters" by Wallace B. Mendelson

• Mendelson discusses the physiological and psychological aspects of sleep, including disorders like sleep paralysis.
• Quote: "Fuseli’s 'The Nightmare' captures the essence of sleep paralysis with remarkable accuracy. The painting’s depiction of a demonic presence is reflective of the common hallucinations experienced during an episode, where the sleeper is aware but unable to move and feels an overwhelming sense of dread."

Psychological and Cultural Connections

1. "The Interpretation of Dreams" by Sigmund Freud

• While not specifically about sleep paralysis, Freud’s work delves into the meaning of dreams and nightmarish experiences.
• Quote: "The pressure on the chest in nightmares, often associated with the presence of a sinister figure, can be traced back to repressed emotions and desires. Fuseli's 'The Nightmare' exemplifies this dynamic, where the demonic incubus represents the unacknowledged fears and anxieties of the dreamer."

2. "Man and His Symbols" by Carl G. Jung

• Jung’s exploration of symbols and the unconscious mind can be applied to understanding the imagery in "The Nightmare."
• Quote: "The figures in 'The Nightmare' are powerful archetypes emerging from the collective unconscious. The incubus and the spectral horse symbolize the shadow aspects of the psyche, which manifest in the paralyzed state between sleep and wakefulness, embodying the confrontation with inner fears."

Structure of the painting

This is the notan of this painting

Notan with black and whites. Value structure 

Notan with red channel

Can you understand something. If you cant understand anything that is because your brain is feminine. It hasn't masculinized yet. A MAN OBSEREVES AND UNDERSTANDS. FOR A WOMAN IT HAS TO BE VERRBALIZED. 

IF A GEOGRAPHY HAS MORE MASCULINIZED BRAIN THEN THEY WILL ENSLAVE THOSE THE ONES WHICH ARE FEMININE.

I am not going to spoon feed you anything. If you understand something that is better. Or your lose.

Ok. That's it. See you with another blog post.