Arnold Böcklin
The Ride of Death (Autumn and Death), 1871
Öl auf Leinwand, 79,0 x 136,5 cm
1871 durch Adolf Friedrich Graf von Schack erworben
Inv. Nr. 11539
The Ride of Death (Autumn and Death)
The masterfully painted autumn landscape reflects Böcklin’s experience of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870–71, when he saw villages and whole areas of the Rhineland devastated. The shadowy figure in the centre is Death, who is riding past a ruin in surroundings from which he has wiped out every sign of life.