Fotoreproductie van een schilderij, voorstellende Wodan leidt de goden naar Walhalla before 1876

Curator: This print, a photomechanical reproduction actually, captures a painting titled "Wodan Leads the Gods to Walhalla." It was made sometime before 1876 and the artist, according to our records, is Victor Angerer. It's printed on paper, of course. Editor: What strikes me first is this feeling of both grandeur and desolation. The landscape dominates; the gods feel almost like intruders upon it. Is it meant to feel almost funereal, despite the glorious subject matter? Curator: Funereal might be apt. I see it more as a bittersweet victory march. This is Walhalla, after all, the hall of the slain. It's a reward earned through bloodshed, guided by Wodan. The symbols are quite powerful: the all-father leading his divine host, their silhouettes against the landscape... the cultural weight of such a story is carried in the image itself. Editor: Yes, the symbolism is there, the very core of our understanding, and perhaps their perception, of the Nordic people: strength, war, afterlife... But I’m also noticing a romantic sensibility. It seems to yearn for a mythic past, but tinged with melancholy. Curator: Absolutely! And the use of landscape contributes to that. This is no mere backdrop. The rolling hills and the dark forest give the composition an uncanny effect... You feel its depth despite being a print, an age of loss encapsulated through the romantic filter, an attempt to claim history with imagery, the shadows lengthening the closer we come to the 20th Century. Editor: A powerful reminder of how even our victories can be tinged with loss. It’s fascinating how an image, originally intended to glorify, can provoke a reflection on something much darker, but it becomes, as the artist tried to communicate to us with images from an ancient narrative. Curator: A reflection indeed. Each god a facet, Wodan holding a mirror to us from his hallowed mountain.