Sommer 1821 - 1824

Curator: Standing before us is “Sommer,” a captivating engraving by Oluf Olufsen Bagge, created sometime between 1821 and 1824. Editor: Immediately I feel a cool stillness about it, despite its title meaning summer. The palette is limited by the nature of engraving, yet there is a serenity radiating from the figure. Curator: Exactly! Bagge here masterfully employs neoclassicism to personify summer, and the symbolism is just so lush! See how the woman is crowned with ears of wheat? Editor: Ah yes, the classic emblem of the harvest, bounty. And the scythe—it’s almost caressing her face. It's intriguing, almost a playful dance with mortality rather than a grim reminder. Summer's abundance inevitably leads to autumn's decline. Curator: Precisely! Consider that engravings, particularly portraits like this, were incredibly popular at the time as accessible art and historical record. It’s interesting that the text beneath the oval with the figure translates "Sommer" in three languages. What do you make of that choice? Editor: It suggests an intent to appeal to a broader audience, emphasizing a universal experience of summer—the heat, growth, harvest—yet grounded within a specific cultural understanding of the season's importance. Is she perhaps a more generalized emblem, Summer as perceived through various European lenses? Curator: It might be a stretch, but that brings up an interesting question of artistic interpretation! But think also how summer connects to memory. Does she stir in you personal recollections of long days and abundance? For me, this emblem definitely captures a certain quality. Editor: Oh, completely. Suddenly the smell of dry grass, the sting of sunburn, lazy days—it floods the mind. That's the power of a symbol handled deftly, isn't it? Thank you so much for this new way of seeing "Sommer" Curator: And thank you. May it tint our understanding and illuminate these classical echoes.