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Queen of the Night
Moritz von Schwindabout 1864–1867
The J. Paul Getty Museum
Los Angeles, United States
Deeply affected by his friendship with the composer Franz Schubert, Moritz von Schwind developed a passion for music. He long dreamed of painting a monumental cycle of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute(1791).
In 1863 he was finally commissioned to paint frescoes of that subject for the newly built Vienna Opera House. Schwind created a striking vision of the mysterious Queen of the Night, whose commanding appearance in Act 1, backlit by the giant moon, takes on cosmic dimensions. This drawing embodies the confluence of art and music characteristic of German Romanticism.
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Details
- Title: Queen of the Night
- Creator: Moritz von Schwind
- Date Created: about 1864–1867
- Location Created: Austria
- Physical Dimensions: 41 × 31.1 cm (16 1/8 × 12 1/4 in.)
- Type: Drawing
- External Link: Find out more about this object on the Museum website.
- Medium: Watercolor over graphite
- Terms of Use: Open Content
- Number: 2009.55
- Culture: Austrian
- Credit Line: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
- Creator Display Name: Moritz von Schwind (Austrian, 1804 - 1871)
- Classification: Drawings (Visual Works)
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