Kullervo Sets Off for War
{{Short description|Painting by Akseli Gallen-Kallela}}
{{Infobox artwork
| image_file=Akseli Gallen-Kallela - Kullervo Sets Off for War (tempera).jpg
| image_size=300px
| caption=Gallen-Kallela's tempera version from 1901.
| title=Kullervo Sets Off for War
| other_language_1=Finnish
| other_title_1=Kullervon sotaanlähtö
| artist=Akseli Gallen-Kallela
| year=1901
| dimensions=355 cm x 687 cm (mural)
89 cm x 128 cm (tempera)
| city=Helsinki
| museum=Mural: Old Student House
Tempera: Ateneum
}}
File:Akseli Gallen-Kallela - Kullervo Sets Off for War (mural).png]]
Kullervo Sets Off for War ({{langx|fi|Kullervon sotaanlähtö}}) is a painting by Akseli Gallen-Kallela from the year 1901. He painted the subject in tempera painting (89 × 128 cm){{cite web |url=http://kokoelmat.fng.fi/app?si=A+III+2144&lang=en |title= Gallen-Kallela, Akseli Kullervon sotaanlähtö 1901 |work= Finnish National Gallery - Art Collections |publisher= Finnish National Gallery |access-date= 8 September 2016 |quote=}} and as a fresco (355 × 687 cm) which is located in the music hall of Old Student House of Helsinki University.{{cite web |url=http://www.vanhaylioppilastalo.fi/en/about/venues |title=Venues |publisher=Vanha Ylioppilastalo |access-date=8 September 2016 |quote= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916010446/http://www.vanhaylioppilastalo.fi/en/about/venues |archive-date=16 September 2016 |url-status=dead }}
Description
The fresco was donated to the Students' union by Otto Donner.{{cite web |url=https://museot.finna.fi/Record/musketti.M012%3AHK19491114%3A40 |title= Invitation to opening ceremony 22.3.1901 |website= Finna |publisher= |access-date= |language=fi}}
The theme for the painting is from the Kalevala, national epic of Finland. Kullervo sits on a white horse ready to ride to war, to take revenge on his uncle Untamo.Kalevala: Songs 31–36 - The Kullervo cycle. He is followed by a dog or a wolf.
Gallen-Kallela traveled to Siena, Italy, where he likely saw the frescoes by Simone Martini in the Palazzo Pubblico. Martini's Equestrian portrait probably gave Gallen-Kallela inspiration for the setting of Kullervo.{{cite web |last1=Sederholm |first1=Helena |title=Kuvat syntyvät kuvista |url=https://artenoux.net/2013/10/02/kuvat-syntyvat-kuvista/ |website=Artenoux |accessdate=12 May 2020 |date=2 October 2013}}
Gallery
{{Gallery
|height=140
|mode=packed
|File:Akseli Gallen-Kallela - Kullervo Rides to War, sketch.jpg|1897 sketch of the work by Gallen-Kallela
|File:Simone Martini 015.jpg|Simone Martini, Equestrian portrait of Guidoriccio da Fogliano, c. 1330
|Kullervon-sotaanlähtö-1935.jpg|1935 Finnish postage stamp featuring the painting
}}
References
{{Akseli Gallen-Kallela}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Paintings by Akseli Gallen-Kallela
Category:Paintings in the Ateneum
Category:Mythological paintings
Category:Works based on the Kalevala
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