After the Battle of Fyrisvall. Proposed Decoration of the Walls in the Upper Hall of the Nationalmuseum 

Editor: So this is *After the Battle of Fyrisvall. Proposed Decoration of the Walls in the Upper Hall of the Nationalmuseum* by Mårten Eskil Winge, done with watercolor and charcoal. It has this hazy, almost dreamlike quality to it. What really strikes me is the sheer scale of it and the number of figures. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Dreamlike is spot on! For me, it’s like stepping into a Norse saga… a hazy memory half-recalled around a crackling fire. The figures, en masse, suggest the epic scope of legend, don’t they? Winge is really playing with Romantic ideals here - this intense focus on national history and mythology. The piece pulses with a quiet energy, all that post-battle activity but a pervasive mist as if to signify the transience of earthly glory. Have you ever noticed how muted the colors are, almost like a faded tapestry, emphasizing a longing for a distant, heroic past? Editor: I didn't really pick up on the "national" part of the romanticism, that makes sense. I suppose it's easy to just think about the "gloomy and epic" side of that movement. Are the Norse sagas actually that… misty? Curator: Aha, that's where the "proposed decoration" bit becomes relevant. He was envisioning this as part of a much grander *Gesamtkunstwerk,* a total artwork experience embedded within the Nationalmuseum itself. I believe the artist intentionally crafted an ethereal mood, like a memory rather than an active battle! Now, is this the sort of after-party you'd like to be at, nursing a pint of mead amidst that smoky chaos? Editor: Definitely not the after-party I'd want, but understanding its place in that larger decorative context really shifts how I see it! Curator: Precisely. That misty, almost melancholy, quality speaks volumes about how nations build their myths, don’t you think?