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Watson and the Shark
1750 – 1880

Romantics & Realists

Revolution, raw emotion and everyday life.

🔍 How to spot it

Three giveaways that tell you what you're looking at — even for a painting you've never seen. Each detail below is magnified from the work named beside it.
1

Nature as a mood. Storms, fog and cliffs that dwarf the human figure — landscape as emotion.

detail from Wanderer above the Sea of Fog — Caspar David Friedrich
detail of Wanderer above the Sea of Fog ⤢
2

Two rival finishes. Icy Neoclassical polish (invisible brush, sharp line) versus hot Romantic paint (loose, visible, smeared).

detail from The Death of Marat — Jacques-Louis David
detail of The Death of Marat ⤢
3

Pyramids of struggle. Bodies pile into straining diagonals, and the viewpoint puts you in the scene, not outside it.

detail from The Raft of the Medusa — Théodore Géricault
detail of The Raft of the Medusa ⤢
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The works

10 paintings in this chapter.

Watson and the Shark boss
Watson and the Shark
John Singleton Copley · 1778
The Nightmare
The Nightmare
Henry Fuseli · 1781
Oath of the Horatii
Oath of the Horatii
Jacques-Louis David · 1784
The Death of Marat
The Death of Marat
Jacques-Louis David · 1793
The Ancient of Days
The Ancient of Days
William Blake · 1794
The Nude Maja
The Nude Maja
Francisco Goya · c. 1800
Napoleon Crossing the Alps
Napoleon Crossing the Alps
Jacques-Louis David · 1801
The Valpinçon Bather
The Valpinçon Bather
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres · 1808
The Abbey in the Oakwood
The Abbey in the Oakwood
Caspar David Friedrich · c. 1810
The Third of May 1808
The Third of May 1808
Francisco Goya · 1814