Lohengrin, the Knight of the Swan, is a character of the German Arthurian tradition and the Crusade cycle of Old French medieval literature. He was the son of another famous hero–Parzival–and one of the knights of the Holy Grail, who was sent to Brabant to rescue a maiden and save the kingdom in exchange for never revealing his identity.
This painting is thought of as the rst painting of a series on opera. It is an illustration to the third act of Richard Wagner’s romantic opera Lohengrin, based on a medieval German legend. The artwork refers to the following particular moment as it goes in the original libretto:
The white dove of the Grail descends and hovers over the boat. Lohengrin, perceiving it, springs up with a look of gratitude and unfastens the chain from the swan, whereupon it immediately plunges beneath the water. In its place Lohengrin lifts a handsome youth in gleaming silver garments – Godfrey – from the river on to the bank.
The painting demonstrates how the hero – Lohengrin – returns to his wife Elsa her younger brother, Gottfried (Godfrey), asking the Holy Grail for a miracle. For me, it is the culmination of the whole opera: in a moment, Lohengrin will abandon Elsa, she will fall dead, Ortrud will sink… At the same time, it is the most beautiful moment of the triumph of truth and miracle.
The style of the painting is influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites.
This passage was brilliantly performed by Jonas Kaufmann (Lohengrin) and Anette Dasch (Elsa) at La Scala in 2012: