Siegfried and the Rhine Maidens
1888/1891
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 50.5 x 52 cm (19 7/8 x 20 1/2 in.) framed: 75.3 x 77.2 x 6.4 cm (29 5/8 x 30 3/8 x 2 1/2 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CAB
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Andrew W. Mellon Collection
Accession Number
1946.1.1
Art Historical Context
**Siegfried and the Rhine Maidens** (1888/1891) by Albertham Ryder invites visitors into a mystical realm drawn from Germanic legend, likely inspired by Richard Wagner's opera cycle *Der Ring des Nibel*. Here, the heroic encounters the ethereal Rhine Maidens, guardians of the Rhinegold, in a scene blending myth and Wagnerian drama. Ryder, a reclusive American artist active in the late 19 century, crafted this intimate oil on canvas—measuring just 50.5 x 52 cm—to evoke a dreamlike, otherworldly atmosphere, characteristic of his visionary approach to storytelling. Ryder's technique shines in hi...
About the Artist
Albert Pinkham Ryder · 1847–1917
Largely self-taught, Albert Pinkham Ryder is widely considered one of America's greatest visionary painters. His intense use of color and mysterious themes are distinctly Romantic. Ryder moved with his family from New Bedford, Massachusetts to New York in 187, where he studied briefly at the New York National Academy of Design. He studied the engravings of Camille Corot and other Barbizon painters...