(Reichenau/Zittau 1814–1862)
Kriemhild’s Dream of Two Boars Chasing Siegfried, signed Rolle pinx, indistinctly inscribed Danzig (?), oil on canvas, 128 x 174 cm, framed (frame damaged)

Provenance:
European Private Collection.

Exhibited:
Akademische Kunstausstellung, Dresden, 1842.

Catalogued in:
Friedrich von Boetticher, Malerwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts, Hofheim am Taunus 1979, vol. II, 1, p. 462, no. 4.

This work by the painter and etcher Karl Gottlieb Rolle provides an insight into the bedchamber of one of the central female figures in what is probably the most famous German heroic epic and thus captures Kriemhild's central motivation in the Song of the Nibelungs: to avenge the murder of her lover Siegfried. In a dramatic pose, the young woman dominates the bright foreground of the picture, her upper body slightly lifted from the bed, her right hand and head raised with her eyes closed, while her left hand clutches the sheet tightly. The reason for her restless sleep is visualised in the upper half of the picture: Siegfried appears in an almost transparent dream bubble, pursued by two wild boars - a symbolic representation of the dastardly murder that forms the starting point for Kriemhild's merciless revenge. The scene is complemented by a shield with the dragon's coat of arms, which unmistakably refers to Siegfried's nickname as the ‘dragon slayer’. With this dramatic composition, Rolle succeeds in impressively capturing Kriemhild's deep emotional conflicts as well as the central thematic driving force of the Song of the Nibelungs - the struggle for revenge and retribution - and thus created a work that impresses with both narrative density and artistic sophistication.