Hero und Leander,

1863

Material / Technology / Carrier

Öl auf Leinwand

Dimensions of the object

107,1 x 60,5 cm

Displayed

Sammlung Schack Saal 5

Department

19. Jahrhundert

Genre

Malerei

Inventory number

11575

Acquisition

1863 durch Adolf Friedrich Graf von Schack erworben

Stock

Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Sammlung Schack München

Citation

Moritz von Schwind, Hero und Leander, 1863, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Sammlung Schack München, URL: https://www.sammlung.pinakothek.de/en/artwork/y7GE1mOGPV (Last updated on 19.06.2023)

The tragic tale of the lovers Hero and Leander has been told and retold countless times since classical antiquity. Guided by a light from his beloved¿s tower, Leander swam across the Hellespont every night to visit her. One night the flame was extinguished by a storm and Leander drowned. When Hero saw his body washed ashore she threw herself into the sea in despair. Schiller made the story the subject of a poem, while the Austrian playwright Franz Grillparzer turned it into the tragedy Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen (The Waves of Sea and of Love).