Scene from Wilhelm Tell 1833

This pencil drawing illustrates a scene from Wilhelm Tell, and was made by Josef Kriehuber. At its heart, the image captures the famed moment when Tell is forced to shoot an apple off his son's head. Consider the apple. It has been a symbol laden with significance. We see it in antiquity with the story of Discord, where it becomes a symbol of contention. As an attribute of Venus, goddess of Love, or as the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden it is also symbolic of temptation, sin and knowledge. Here, the apple becomes a symbol of both tyranny and defiance, carrying layers of historical, cultural, and psychological weight. This is then compounded by the emotional tension and high stakes of the depicted scene. Such a symbol and the moment it represents creates a powerful spectacle, engaging us on a subconscious level. It is a potent reminder of the ways in which symbols evolve and take on new meanings, all whilst still retaining traces of their complex past.