Og så gik de ind i Dødens store Drivhus... 1898

Curator: This unsettling yet serene work is by Fritz Syberg, titled "And Then They Entered Death's Great Greenhouse..." Created in 1898, it offers a compelling glimpse into the late 19th-century preoccupation with symbolism. The drawing, rendered in ink, resides here at the SMK, the Statens Museum for Kunst. Editor: My initial reaction is that it evokes a hushed stillness, almost sepulchral. The two women feel isolated, framed by dense foliage that hems them into a somber world, somewhere between garden and grave. It certainly speaks to a Victorian-era fascination with death, especially female death. Curator: Indeed, the greenhouse of death serves as a powerful symbol here. We see the motif of nature as both beautiful and terrifying. This duality resonates deeply with fin-de-siècle anxieties around mortality and the ephemeral nature of life, mirrored in the fragility and delicate nature of plant life, and women's vulnerability in those years. The symbolism permeates throughout the forest scene. Editor: It's fascinating how Syberg juxtaposes the delicate, almost sickly tending to those flowers, juxtaposed against the rather severe figure on the other side of the stream, seemingly trapped and observant. Are we seeing stages of life here, or maybe even symbolic roles for women at that time, tethered to life and its eventual decay? Curator: Precisely. There are undertones of the Pre-Raphaelite movement in the air and the echoes of Hamlet’s Ophelia linger—it makes one question the status and symbolic meaning attributed to women during this time. We see a visual representation of a shared cultural imagination grappling with mortality and beauty, inextricably linked. Editor: Absolutely. Thinking about Syberg's world at the time, Denmark was certainly wrestling with questions of national identity and its place on the world stage, something I would argue often manifested in the art world. One could easily posit this work as metaphor for anxieties facing that generation, captured within this rather surreal drawing. Curator: Your insights deepen my own perspective. This drawing speaks to the visual culture surrounding societal change during those transformative times. It will now be hard to imagine the drawing any other way! Editor: I, likewise. Its eerie beauty reveals layers of understanding of both life and how our cultures interpret what our end may symbolize to us.