Sappho

1897

not on display

Ernst Stückelberg1831 Basel – 1903 Basel

Sappho (Mytilene on Lesbos, around 600 BC), the famous poetess of love poetry, who was already surrounded by numerous stories in antiquity, throws herself into the sea from the Leucadian Rock out of unrequited love for Phaon. Stückelberg was probably inspired by Grillparzer's drama, which romantically interpreted suicide as atonement for crossing the boundary between art and life.In: Kunsthaus Zürich. Gesamtkatalog der Gemälde und Skulpturen, Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft (ed.), edited by Christian Klemm, Franziska Lentzsch, Gian Casper Bott et al., Ostfildern, Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2007.

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

image: 106 x 87.5 cm

Inventory number

1939

Credit line

Kunsthaus Zürich, Bequest of August Weidmann, 1929

Signature

inscr. b. r.: pinx. E STÜCKELBERG

Inscriptions

Accession year

1929

Provenance

The digitisation of the inventory of the Kunsthaus is an ongoing work in progress. Due to the time-consuming nature of comprehensive scientific research on each individual artwork, we have decided to disclose some works also without provenance information to the public. The progression of provenance research will be continuously updated online. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at provenanceresearch(at)kunsthaus.ch.

About the provenance

State of research 01.01.2007 Do you have questions, criticism, suggestions, and further information? Please send us a message to provenienzforschung(at)kunsthaus.ch.

Literature (general)

- Kunsthaus Zürich. Gesamtkatalog der Gemälde und Skulpturen, hrsg. von Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft et al., Sammlungskatalog, Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2007, S. 203. - Ernst Stückelberg (1831–1903), hrsg. von Bernd Wolfgang Lindemann, Ausst.-Kat. Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel: Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, 2003, No. A 100, S. 23, Farbabb. 20. - Franz Zelger: Der Historienmaler Ernst Stueckelberg 1831 bis 1903, Zürich: Juris Dr. & Verl., 1971, No. 35, S. 78, 120. - Von Anker bis Zünd. Die Kunst im jungen Bundesstaat 1848-1900, hrsg. von Christian Klemm, Ausst.-Kat. Kunsthaus Zürich/Musée d'Art et d'Historie, Genf, Zürich: Scheidegger & Spiess, 1998, No. 157 (ill.). - Joseph Beuys, Ausst.-Kat. Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich, 1993, No. 70, S. 160 f.. - Rose Marie Schulz-Rehberg: Der Basler Maler Ernst Stückelberg 1831-1903. Leben und Werk, Basel: Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, 2023, S. 128 [ill. S. 127].

Object type

painting

Classification

C 1[1] painting 19th century CHE

Keywords