Two Girls at the Well

Despite their close band, the two girls differ in terms of posture, expression and colour. The dark-haired girl with the lute is open, with an expansive gesture before the broad view of the countryside, and looks at the flowing water. In contrast, the blond girl, immersed in contemplation, is assigned to the detail of the well, with the plants surrounding it. Contemporaries read the painting as a discussion of different temperaments and art landscapes, and the interpretation could even go as far as to suggest what we see is the representation of the muses as sources of artistic inspiration. The iconographical indeterminacy and the appeal to the viewer’s empathetic abilities, make this key work among the Düsseldorf ‘Paintings of the Soul’ a popular favourite that is often reproduced. It differs in this regard from the allegories of friendship painted by the Nazarenes that were more clear in conceptualization, such as Franz Pforr’s "Sulamith and Mary" (1811) and Friedrich Overbeck’s "Italia and Germania" (1811–28) (Sabine Schroyen)