Evocation de Kundry (fourth plate)

Henri Fantin-Latour

From Act II of Wagner’s opera “Parsifal,” based on the Arthurian legend of the knight Percival and his quest for the Holy Grail. This scene depicts the magician Klingsor employing his book of spells to summon Kundry, a Flowermaiden cursed to spend her days leading Grail Knights to their deaths.

Fantin-Latour often made paintings and prints based on the operatic works of Wagner, taking great inspiration from the composer’s love of epic mythology, a theme which had already engaged Fantin-Latour before his introduction to Wagner. The work of both artists often shared a common theme: woman as muse, equally effective as a vehicle of fulfillment or of deceit - often at the behest of darker outside forces. In this piece, Kundry is an ephemeral being, seemingly only made of light and dust, while the magician, overcome with murderous jealousy of the Holy Grail knights, is solidly rooted in shadow.