Stage design for Richard Wagner's opera "lohengrin", Act 1, scene 1 1905

Alfred Roller created this stage design for Richard Wagner's opera "Lohengrin" with an approach that feels very much about the drama of light and shadow. It’s all in monochrome, which really emphasizes the textures. The scene almost feels like it’s been built up through layers of charcoal and ink, think about the way the light hits the lances on the right. Look at how the dark, almost velvety blacks of the tree contrast with the stark white of the shields. The application of the medium is so physical, you can practically feel the artist layering up the shades and smudging the details to create this atmospheric depth. There's a lot of kinship between Roller's approach to stage design and some of the Symbolist painters of the time like Odilon Redon, who used a similar approach to the exploration of interior and imaginative space. Ultimately, this is about the push and pull between visibility and invisibility.