Moritz von Schwind
Hero and Leander (Love Killed), 1863
Öl auf Leinwand, 107,1 x 60,5 cm
1863 durch Adolf Friedrich Graf von Schack erworben
Inv. Nr. 11575
Hero and Leander (Love Killed)
The tragic tale of the lovers Hero and Leander has been told and retold countless times since classical antiquity. Guided by a light from his beloved¿s tower, Leander swam across the Hellespont every night to visit her. One night the flame was extinguished by a storm and Leander drowned. When Hero saw his body washed ashore she threw herself into the sea in despair. Schiller made the story the subject of a poem, while the Austrian playwright Franz Grillparzer turned it into the tragedy Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen (The Waves of Sea and of Love).