Terrour (sic) or Fright after 1698

This image shows "Terrour or Fright," a drawing by Eduardus Jacobus, in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Executed with sanguine ink, the artwork captures a face contorted by intense emotion, evoking both dread and fascination. The composition is dominated by the head, its features rendered with frantic energy. Jacobus masterfully uses line to delineate the exaggerated expression: eyes wide and wild, brow furrowed, and mouth agape. This emphasis on the face, set against the stark ground of the paper, highlights the raw and unfiltered experience of terror. The frenzied, almost chaotic, lines used to describe the hair enhance the sense of emotional turmoil. The image suggests a breakdown of rational thought and an eruption of visceral sensation. The artwork challenges classical ideals of beauty and composure, confronting viewers with the unsettling aspects of human experience. This drawing prompts us to consider the unstable nature of emotion and its power to destabilize fixed categories.