Walpurgisnachtsszene, darunter Baubo, auf einem Schwein reitend 

Editor: Here we have "Walpurgisnachtsszene, darunter Baubo, auf einem Schwein reitend" or, Walpurgis Night Scene, including Baubo, riding a pig by Bernhard Neher the Younger. It's a pencil drawing on paper held at the Städel Museum. It feels almost like a forgotten sketch, full of barely-there figures. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Oh, it whispers secrets, doesn't it? I see a riotous gathering taking shape from the faintest lines, a visualization of Walpurgis Night—that wild, chaotic witches' sabbath! It's interesting because Neher is engaging with a deeply rooted folk tradition, but through the lens of, I suspect, academic training. It's a dance between folklore and form, wouldn't you agree? Look at Baubo riding that pig. What does it evoke? Editor: It definitely feels more playful than demonic. And the other figures... almost sketched on a whim. Curator: Exactly! The looseness makes it intimate. Imagine Neher, sitting late at night, by candlelight perhaps, letting these figures spill out of his imagination. It feels less like a formal depiction and more like a personal channeling of this ancient celebration. He is also a Neoclassical painter, so this would have been part of that practice of quick sketch to form composition. But can you also detect, in this unfinished scene, hints of critique, the anxieties swirling beneath the surface of Enlightenment reason? Editor: It's funny; knowing the title adds so much! Otherwise, it could be figures just floating in space. I initially didn't get much from the lines themselves, but thinking about Walpurgis Night… the rawness makes more sense. Curator: Precisely! Art has these amazing dialogues with knowledge, feeling, intention. That is its great power! A scribble comes to life with our dreams. What will you take away? Editor: That the magic is sometimes hidden in the unsaid. Thanks for illuminating those hidden worlds!