Description
Arnold Böcklin’s The War sends a terrifying procession of riders and horses through the air above a burning town. Pale faces emerge from dark clothing, a skeletal figure looms among the riders, and the animals surge forward with an unnatural force. Below them, flames and smoke swallow the buildings in a sharply compressed landscape.
The steep arrangement makes the procession feel as though it is bearing down on the world beneath it. Böcklin contrasts the familiar forms of a town with a vision of destruction that belongs to nightmare and allegory. Rich browns, black shadows, and flashes of fiery orange give the scene a grave, unsettling intensity.
Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Arnold Böcklin collection.
