John Martin
Manfred and the Witch of the Alps
The eponymous hero of Byron's verse drama
Manfred (1817) is a Faustian figure who, tormented by guilt for 'some half-maddening sin' and cursed by the spirits of the universe, is denied the oblivion he seeks. After an attempt at suicide - illustrated by Martin in a companion watercolour (Birmingham City Art Gallery) - Manfred invokes the Witch of the Alps and reveals his sin, his incestuous love for his sister Astarte. The Witch, who 'rises beneath the arch of the rainbow of the torrent', commands him to surrender his soul to her as the price for her assistance: the shadowy apparition to the right in this watercolour is his soul, with which he considers parting, but refuses to do so.