Kniender Armbrustschütze aus dem Rasenden Roland des Ariost 1825

Editor: Here we have Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld's "Kneeling Archer from Ariosto's Orlando Furioso," created around 1825, a charcoal and chalk drawing on paper. The figure, poised with his crossbow, looks rather determined. It feels very… deliberate, every line seems to have been carefully considered. What draws your eye when you look at this piece? Curator: It’s the tension, isn't it? He's caught between action and contemplation. I feel like he’s about to unleash… something. The arrow of destiny, perhaps? It reminds me of a half-remembered dream, the kind where heroes rise and fall in the space between one breath and the next. The slight color variations across the whole piece definitely complement this sense of 'motionless motion'. Editor: I see that! I hadn’t thought of it like that, but I see that mix of power and poise...almost hesitation. Where do you think that sense of… suspended animation comes from? Curator: Perhaps from the story itself, Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, a whirlwind of knights and magic and love gone sideways. This drawing feels like a frozen moment lifted straight from one of those sprawling tales. Von Carolsfeld has captured that operatic drama with such simplicity of means – charcoal and chalk, light and shadow. What do you make of the subject looking slightly outside of the artwork limits, instead of directly at it? Editor: Hmm, that is interesting, makes you wonder what exactly he's seeing. Maybe it has something to do with how he looks as though he's warning somebody with the pointed hand. I suppose I initially saw the drawing as just an archer, but thinking of it as one tiny piece in a much larger story is exciting. Curator: Absolutely. It is like a snapshot of the imagination itself, which I think romantic art can achieve. Now, if only we knew exactly what lies beyond that archer’s pointed finger… Editor: A new perspective to appreciate next time around, certainly. Thanks for opening my eyes to this today.