The Wounded Angel
{{for|the Kazakhstani film|The Wounded Angel (film)}}
{{Short description|Painting by Hugo Simberg}}
{{Infobox artwork
| image_file = The Wounded Angel - Hugo Simberg.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| title = The Wounded Angel
| artist = Hugo Simberg
| year = 1903
| type = Oil
| height_metric = 127
| width_metric = 154
| metric_unit = cm
| imperial_unit = in
| city = Helsinki
| museum = Ateneum
}}
The Wounded Angel ({{langx|fi|Haavoittunut enkeli}}; {{langx|sv|Sårad ängel}}; 1903) is a painting by Finnish symbolist painter Hugo Simberg. It is one of the most recognizable of Simberg's works, and was voted Finland's "national painting" in a vote held by the Ateneum art museum in 2006.{{cite news|url=http://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/artikkeli/Haavoittunut+enkeli+voitti+%C3%A4%C3%A4nestyksen+Ateneumin+Maamme-taulusta/1135223402699 |title=Haavoittunut enkeli voitti äänestyksen Ateneumin Maamme-taulusta |work=Helsingin Sanomat |date=2 December 2006 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224053054/http://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/artikkeli/Haavoittunut+enkeli+voitti+%C3%A4%C3%A4nestyksen+Ateneumin+Maamme-taulusta/1135223402699 |archivedate=24 February 2012}}{{cite news |title=Haavoittunut enkeli on suomalaisten suosikkitaulu |url=https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-6039024 |accessdate=23 May 2020 |work=Yle |date=2 December 2006}}{{cite web |title=Haavoittunut enkeli, 1903 |url=https://www.kansallisgalleria.fi/fi/object/396251 |website=Kansallisgalleria |accessdate=9 May 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Halonen |first1=Kaisa |title=Haavoittunut enkeli on Ateneumin rakastetuin maalaus |url=https://www.kirkkojakaupunki.fi/-/haavoittunut-enkeli-on-ateneumin-rakastetuin-maalaus#db68b57d |accessdate=9 May 2020 |work=Kirkko ja kaupunki |date=26 September 2018}} In a similar 2013 vote held by Nordic Moneta, it was voted second most important.{{cite news |last1=Blencowe |first1=Annette |title=Albert Edelfeltin Leikkiviä poikia rannalla äänestettiin Suomen merkittävimmäksi maalaukseksi |url=https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-6481030 |accessdate=22 May 2020 |date=5 February 2013}}
The painting
Like other Simberg works, the atmosphere is melancholic: the angelic central figure with her bandaged forehead and bloodied wing, the sombre clothing of her two youthful bearers. The right-hand figure's gaze is fixated beyond and to the right of the viewer.
The procession passes through a recognisable landscape, that of Eläintarha, Helsinki, with Töölönlahti Bay in the background.{{in lang|fi}} Leppänen, Marko: [http://esoteerinenmaantiede.blogspot.com/2010/04/sisalla-maalauksessa-haavoittunut.html Maalaukseen astuminen – Haavoittunut enkeli Eläintarhassa] Esoteerinen maantiede ja periferiaterapia. Accessed 16 April 2010. The same road still skirts Töölönlahti Bay. In Hugo Simberg's time, the park was a popular spot for leisure-time activities among the working classes. At the time, many charity institutions were located in Eläintarha park; in The Wounded Angel, the healthy boys are carrying the injured girl towards the Blind Girls' School and the Home for Cripples. She clutches a bunch of snowdrops, symbolic of healing and rebirth.
Simberg himself declined to offer any interpretation, suggesting that the viewer draw their own conclusions. However, Simberg had been suffering from meningitis, and the painting was a source of strength during his recovery.{{in lang|fi}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20051230140143/http://www.ateneum.fi/default.asp?docId=14139 The Wounded Angel at the Ateneum website]
A number of Finnish artists praised The Wounded Angel when it first displayed in 1903 at the Ateneum autumn exhibition. In a letter to his sister Blenda, Simberg wrote on 10 October 1903: "I wanted to share the good news with you – I was not rejected this year, even though the jury was terribly strict. It seems that I have achieved something of a grand succés among my colleagues and the members of the jury. Gallén is so excited that I can hardly take him seriously. His first words were the highest flattery of my work and, oddly, he seems quite beside himself with enthusiasm for the big painting. He says that it gives him the impression that I had stood alone in a little cabin, huddled in the midst of a great forest, and had painted in complete indifference to the outside world. He says that it radiates peace and harmony like no other work in the exhibition – Even Edelfelt said nice things to me." Olavinen 2000, page 96. Hugo Simberg 1873–1917. Text by Anja Olavinen. Helsinki: Ateneum (Ateneum Publications No. 13), {{ISBN|951-53-2095-X}}
When Simberg was asked to paint frescoes for the Tampere Cathedral in 1905–06, one was a larger version of The Wounded Angel, his favorite painting.
Gallery
{{Gallery
|width=120
|height=120
|mode=packed
|File:Simberg, photo, study for The Wounded Angel 1.jpg|Study for The Wounded Angel, 1902
|File:Simberg, photo, study for The Wounded Angel 2.jpg|Another study for The Wounded Angel, 1902
|File:Wounded Angel in progress, Simberg.jpg|Photograph from 1902–1903 of the painting in progress
}}
Impact on later works
The painting inspired the album cover for Spiritual Black Dimensions by Dimmu Borgir.
The painting partially inspired the music video for the Nightwish song "Amaranth."{{cite news |last=Law |first=Sam |date=4 June 2021 |title=The 20 greatest Nightwish songs ranked |url=https://www.kerrang.com/features/the-20-greatest-nightwish-songs-ranked/ |work=Kerrang |access-date=15 June 2021}}
The painting has a strong symbolic role in the Apple TV series Constellation (TV series).
See also
- On Your Mark - short film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki with a similar motif
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Commonscat-inline|The Wounded Angel by Hugo Simberg|The Wounded Angel by Hugo Simberg}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wounded Angel}}
Category:Paintings by Hugo Simberg