Ludwig Ferdinand Schnorr von Carolsfeld
The Erlking, um 1830/35
Öl auf Leinwand, 52,2 x 65,8 cm
1874 durch Adolf Friedrich Graf von Schack erworben
Inv. Nr. 11462
The Erlking
Goethe based his poem ‘Erlkönig’ on a Danish folk ballad about the king of the elves and his daughters, which had been translated into German by Johann Gottfried Herder as ‘Erlking’s Daughters’. The ballad’s proto-Romantic content is rooted in popular notions of the supernatural. Schnorr uses gestures to convey the threat inherent in the story, whereas Schwind bathes the scene in a pale half-light and emphasises the demonic aspect. In places, the outlines Schwind drew with rapid, flickering strokes of the pen show through the thin, loosely applied paint.