Loreley, 1852/53
Oil on canvas
Dimensions without frame39 × 28 cm
Dimensions with frame60,3 × 50,2 × 10 cm
About the workFrom a rock near Sankt Goarshausen, the legendary Loreley is said to have led Rhine boatmen into destruction with her chant and beauty. The place had long been infamous for its echo and dangerous passage. But it was the poet Clemens Brentano who first developed the legendary figure around 1800, which became a very popular motif in art, literature and music. In the oil paint sketch by the Düsseldorf painter Carl Ferdinand Sohn, the red-haired Loreley gazes into the valley of the Middle Rhine. Her attire and the lyre are intended to convey the impression that she is an ancient mythological figure.
AccessionBequest Dr. Franz Schoenfeld 1911
Provenance[...]; 1911 erworben durch Schenkung von Dr. Franz Schoenfeld, Düsseldorf
Inventory numberM 4118
