Tarantella, Carl Blechen
Carl Blechen
Tarantella
DE
Back to top

Carl Blechen

Tarantella, ca. 1830


Dimensions
55.0 x 42.5 cm
Physical Description
Oil on wood
Acquisition
On permanent loan from the Federal Republic of Germany since 1966
Status
On display, 1st upper level, Modern Art, room 1

Texts

About the Work

She is dancing the tarantella - but there is no trace here of the merry, fast rhythm of the folk dance from southern Italy. Although the events surrounding the dancing look like a tavern scene that has been transferred to the open air, the figures look strangely restrained. The focus is not on the protagonist but on a melancholy "female spectator" who remains as unmoved by the performance as the monk gazing pensively out to sea. Blechen captures in masterly fashion the colours of Italy, where he sojourned for almost a year in 1828-29. And yet his view of the south here is a broken one.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title
Tarantella
Painter
Period Produced
School
Object Type
Physical Description
Oil on wood
Material
Technique

Property and Acquisition

Institution
Administration
Collection
Creditline
Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Dauerleihgabe der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Picture Copyright
Public Domain
Acquisition
On permanent loan from the Federal Republic of Germany since 1966

Work Content

Motifs and References

Iconclass

Primary
Secondary
  • 41D3 folk costume, regional costume
  • 48CC73411 tambourine - CC - out of doors
  • 48CC72 musician - CC - out of doors
  • 48CC7323 lute, and special forms of lute, e.g.: theorbo - CC - out of doors
  • 48A712 the audience ~ art performance
  • 11P31521 monk(s), friar(s)
  • 47I214 goat
  • 48C161 column, pillar ~ architecture
  • 25H131 rocky coast

More to discover

Albums

Contact

Do you have any suggestions, questions or information about this work?

Last update

15.05.2023