Illustration til "Prindsessen paa Ærten" i H.C. Andersen, "Eventyr og Historier", Bind 1 1870 - 1873

This illustration by H.P. Hansen, dated 1870-1873, depicts a scene from Hans Christian Andersen's "The Princess and the Pea", which was originally published in 1835. The scene shows a princess, dressed in a long gown and holding a pillow, standing next to a queen, who is searching under a mattress, while a maid stands in the background. The scene captures the princess's search for a true princess with a delicate sensitivity, as the queen and the maid are clearly invested in finding the right person. The illustration, now located at the SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst, is drawn in black and white and uses sharp lines to capture the detail of the figures and the furnishings in the room.