The Flute Playing Herdsman with Two Cows

Carl Wilhelm Kolbe, late 18th–early 19th century

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Artist: Carl Wilhelm Kolbe (German, 1757–1835)
Medium: Etching
Size: 7 7/8 × 8 in. (20 × 20.32 cm) (plate); 8 1/16 × 8 3/16 in. (20.48 × 20.8 cm) (sheet)
Museum: Minneapolis Institute of Art
Rights: Public Domain Mark

Carl Wilhelm Kolbe presents us here with a clear example of German Romanticism. Were it not for the reclining satyr seen in the foreground and the colonnaded temple in the distant clearing, this pastoral woodland tableau could have been seen on a Sunday afternoon stroll on the outskirts of Dessau, the capital of the principality of Anhalt-Dessau (in modern-day eastern Germany), where he taught French and served as the drawing master of the prince.

Kolbe starts with an appreciation for nature. Dead and broken limbs chart the trials of icy winters and thunderous storms through which the ancient, gnarled tree perservered. Fat cattle signal bounty for the table. Benign weather has given the young heardsman the opportunity to enjoy making music. Then Kolbe adds the magic. The satyr and the temple transport us to a mystical world that drops the constraints of time and science.

Text: Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), CC BY 4.0.