Arnold Böcklin
The Hermit, um 1863
Öl auf Leinwand, 106,0 x 57,8 cm
Vor 1866 durch Adolf Friedrich Graf von Schack erworben
Inv. Nr. 11525
The Hermit
Böcklin depicted the rich colours of autumn more compellingly than virtually any of his contemporaries. The hermit here kneels on a ledge on a steep rocky mountain scattered with thorny plants. Böcklin’s picture, unlike Moritz von Schwind’s purely contemplative images of hermits, contains a disturbing element: ravens are circling in the sky, doubtless in anticipation of the hermit’s death.