The stuff of nightmares

Henry Fuseli's painting The Nightmare has become one of the most celebrated icons of horror in the history of art. Freud had a print of it, hanging on the wall of his office in Vienna.

Hollywood art directors frequently referred to it when designing the bedroom scenes of classic horror films. Countless political caricatures, from the late 18th century to the present day, have been inspired by the painting, which forms part of a major new exhibition of Gothic art at Tate Britain.