A Femme Fatale, a mask-like male face, and male figure seen from behind (recto). An angel descending stairs (verso)

The recto of this drawing represents a malevolent woman with clenched fist next to a glowering male head and figure. On the verso, a female angel with a sword descends a flight of stairs.The imagery has not been connected to a particular source, but romantic literary and fantastic subjects predominate in Von Holst’s oeuvre, derived from Virgil, Dante, Shakespeare, Victor Hugo, and Goethe.
Von Holst’s precocious talent was recognized by Thomas Lawrence, who bought a drawing from the youth when the latter was ten years old. After taking lessons from Henry Fuseli, Von Holst entered the Royal Academy Schools at the age of fourteen in 1824. Fuseli remained a strong influence stylistically and the works of the two artists have often been confused. In 1959, an album assembled by John Welch Etherington Rolls (1807-1870) appeared at auction containing drawings by both artists, and subsequent research allowed a core group to be securely ascribed to Von Holst, the present sheet among them.