Macbeth, Banquo, and the Witches by Henry Fuseli (Interpretation and Analysis)

Macbeth, Banquo, and the Witches
Source: National Trust

Swiss artist Henry Fuseli can best be described as a painter of horror. Although his work encompassed a variety of topics, his most memorable pieces touch on the liminal space between ordinary life and the world of supernatural horrors. His work explores the dark places in the human psyche, exploring the turbulent landscape of the mind in dark and gory detail. His paintings draw their power from Fuseli’s expert understanding of visual drama. In fact, His masterpiece, The Nightmare, is one of the most quintessential images of the Romantic age, an artistic movement that drew its inspiration from emotion and individualism.

Given this source of inspiration, it’s unsurprising that some Romantic painters turned to the work of Shakespeare for subject matter. Shakespeare’s Macbeth—full of darkness and drama—was prime material for Romantic artists. Fuseli himself returned to Macbeth several times throughout his career; one of the most compelling of these paintings is entitled Macbeth, Banquo, and the Witches. As the title suggests, this painting depicts the third scene of Macbeth, in which the three witches predict that Macbeth will become the king.

Fuseli employs a strange compositional structure to convey the eeriness of this famous scene. The center of the painting is empty, with the three witches emerging from the mists in a cloud of hazy light. To the right, Macbeth and Banquo seem to have just walked into the frame of the painting. Their bodies are unnaturally tall, giving the two men an otherworldly air. Macbeth’s bloody sword is in the foreground, a harbinger of approaching violence. In the background, the shadowy forms of soldiers and armies are visible.

Taken together, these elements create an aura of foreboding that reflects the sinister tone of the play. The painting is strange and, in some ways, experimental. The distorted perspective of the painting, coupled with Fuseli’s compositional choices give the painting an air of spontaneity and wonder that is only matched by the astonishment of Macbeth and Banquo as the witches appear on the field.

Disclaimer: I’m not an art historian or an expert on this topic. The above is my opinion, based on my interpretation of my foreknowledge of art and history. If I’ve done any additional research, I’ll note it above.