Siegfried fängt einen Bären 1812

"Siegfried fängt einen Bären" (Siegfried catches a bear), a drawing by Peter Cornelius (1783-1867), depicts a scene from the German epic poem, the Nibelungenlied. Siegfried, a renowned hero, is shown wrestling a bear, a common motif in the mythology of this period. The sketch is executed with a high level of detail and captures the dynamism of the scene, conveying the strength and agility of both the hero and the bear. The drawing is a significant example of Cornelius’s work and is housed in the Städel Museum.