One of the most charming but little-known aspects of 19th century German art are the series of narrative paintings created by such late-Romantic painters as Moritz von Schwind, Edward von Steinle and Leopold Bode with subjects from saga, myth and literature. Today’s museum-goers may have heard of Schwind, but Steinle and Bode have been all but forgotten. Mediaeval legends, the comedies of Shakespeare, Schiller’s ballads and Brentano’s fairy tales all provided material for carefully composed and highly detailed cycles of paintings; precious collectors’ pieces in oil on canvas, gouache or watercolour, displayed in highly ornate frames. Drawing mainly from the paintings of the collector Adolf Friedrich von Schack but greatly enriched by loans from museums and private collections, the exhibition presents around thirty individual paintings and painting cycles by Steinle and Bode.

The exhibition is staged in collaboration with the Clemens Sels Museum in Neuss, where it will be on display from 07 April 2019 to 30 June 2019.