Rübezahl

Adrian Ludwig Richter

1872 · Watercolor on paper · Drawings and Prints

A leading painter and printmaker of the later Romantic period in Germany, Richter produced numerous works inspired by fairytales. This composition is based on an etching he made in 1848 and shows the gnome king Rübezahl addressing a young girl whom he loves, resting near a mountainside stream with several children. Previous to this scene, the gnome had assumed the guise of a raven to spy on the group (indicated in the drawing by the black bird perched on a rock at the right). Richter focuses here, however, upon the moment when Rübezahl assumes human form to beguile his beloved. Eventually, he will carry her off to his underground realm.

Artist

Adrian Ludwig Richter

Date

1872

Medium

Watercolor on paper

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1939