Henry Fuseli (Swiss, Zürich 1741–1825 London), Night and Her Children Aither and Hemera (Hesiod, Theogony), ca. 1810–15. Soft-ground etching; unfinished. Sheet: 12 1/4 × 11 1/2 in. (31.1 × 29.2 cm). The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1963. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 63.517.4 © 2000–2016 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

For this etching, Fuseli turned to a passage from Hesiod's Theogony, a poem written in about 700 B.C. on the origins of the cosmos and the genealogies of the gods. Here, Night bears two children, Aither (Brightness or Sky) and Hemera (Day), by her brother Erebus (Darkness). The nebulous character of the unfinished figures adds to the mystery of the origin story itself. It is not clear why the artist never completed the print, and this may be the only impression.

This work is exhibited in the "Unfinished: Thoughts Left Invisible" exhibition, on view through September 4th, 2016. #MetBreuer