Illustration for Romance About The Faithful Friendship Of Amis And Amil 

Artuš Scheiner created this illustration for a romance about the faithful friendship of Amis and Amil at the turn of the 20th century. Note the Nordic runes inscribed on the pillars of the throne room. Scheiner was Czech, but here he draws on the visual codes of medieval Scandinavia, filtered through late 19th century romanticism. This was a time when intellectuals and artists were searching for authentic national identities in folklore, mythology, and the medieval past. We can see evidence of this in the Pre-Raphaelite movement in Britain and other varieties of symbolism across Europe. Note that the woman on the throne wears black, a color that might be understood as either conservative or progressive, depending on the social context. Historians of art can look at these images as evidence of cultural patterns such as these. By examining literary sources and exhibition records, we can better understand the institutional forces that shaped artistic production.