The Folk Song (al fresco)

The picture depicts in a few scenes the Nordic landscape and its people. The minor-key music from the player’s fiddle seems to reflect the mood of the people. A young man is sitting and looking at (and listening to) the gushing water of a stream. A loving couple stand close together under a white-blossoming tree. The picture becomes an antithesis to the more cheerful picture (by Sven Erixson) on the opposite wall. The al Fresco technique has been used since the late Middle Ages and involves painting with pigments dissolved in water on wet plaster, which causes the pigments to combine with the plaster and makes the picture very durable and resistant to fading.