The Sacred Grove
1882 · Oil on canvas · Kunstmuseum Basel
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About this work
- Artist
- Arnold Böcklin (1827–1901)
- Year
- 1882
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 105 × 150.6 cm
- Collection
- Kunstmuseum Basel
- Movement
- Symbolism
In a clearing of pale-barked trees in autumn leaf and dark cypresses, a fire burns on a stone altar beside a still pool, where two priests in white robes kneel with their arms stretched out before it. A line of veiled figures in white approaches from the right, and a lit temple glows through the trees behind them under a pale evening sky. Böcklin finished this first version in spring 1882, during his years in Florence, and painted a second, cooler version in 1886, now in Hamburg. The Kunstmuseum Basel holds this one and notes that Thomas Mann owned a reproduction and praised it in a book of 1918.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Autumn gold, deep green and a small flame in shadow suit a living room, study or dining room with warm dark walls. Pair it with Böcklin's Isle of the Dead and hang this one at 36×24 in a dark wood frame.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Symbolism painting
- Era
- 19th century (1882)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- calm
- Rooms
- living room, dining room, study or library
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 36×24. Prints at 18×12, 24×16, 36×24 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard; 36×24 as the statement piece above a sofa or headboard.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; dark wood warms it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Sacred Grove in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Sacred Grove painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
