 Landholdt was the niece of his friend, the Swiss physiognomist Johann Kaspar Lavater.Fuseli wrote of his fantasies to Lavater in 1779; "Last night I had her in bed with me—tossed my bedclothes hugger-mugger—wound my hot and tight-clasped hands about her—fused her body and soul together with my own—poured into her my spirit, breath and strength.Anyone who touches her now commits adultery and incest!