The King in Thule 2 [Flings his goblet to the foam below] 1924

Editor: This is Ernst Barlach's "The King in Thule 2," a striking design held by the Harvard Art Museums. It feels heavy with unspoken drama. What cultural echoes do you hear in it? Curator: Notice the goblet held aloft, a symbol of earthly pleasure and power offered to the sea, an acknowledgement of a deeper, perhaps uncontrollable force. The King, cloaked and crowned, embodies a fading authority surrendering to fate. Editor: So, the sea is more than just water? Curator: Precisely! It becomes a metaphor for the unconscious, the eternal. Barlach is inviting us to consider what we relinquish to time, and the peace – or terror – in that surrender. Editor: I hadn't considered the peace in surrender. Thanks!