 The painting incorporates a variety of imagery associated with these ideas, depicting a mare's head and a demon crouched atop the woman.Sleep and dreams were common subjects for the Zürich-born Henry Fuseli, though "The Nightmare" is unique among his paintings for its lack of reference to literary or religious themes (Fuseli was an ordained minister).His first known painting is "Joseph Interpreting the Dreams of the Butler and Baker of Pharaoh" (1768), and later he produced "" (1798) inspired by John Milton's "Paradise Lost", and "Richard III Visited by Ghosts" (1798) based on Shakespeare's play.