Ingeborg, Frithjofs elskede 1868

Curator: Peter Nicolai Arbo, a Norwegian painter, created "Ingeborg, Frithjofs elskede" in 1868. It’s an oil painting showcasing a woman and a falcon in a landscape setting. Editor: My immediate impression is one of melancholy, softened by the vibrant colours. The texture of her clothing, a heavy blue fabric, really pulls my attention, too. Curator: Absolutely. Arbo was very engaged with Norse mythology, as we can see from the painting’s title. This is Ingeborg, the beloved of Frithjof from a famous saga. It illustrates a particular cultural revival in 19th-century Scandinavia that championed national myths. Editor: Thinking about it as oil paint, and as textile – is it deliberately rendering her in these sturdy, almost heavy, fabrics to ground her in the physicality of her environment? This painting would've been so labour-intensive, from weaving the materials to grinding and mixing the pigment, let alone the application on the canvas. Curator: That’s insightful. These portrayals elevated women in connection to Norse legends as central to the burgeoning national identity, and contributed to the era’s emphasis on nature. Editor: The details in her garment’s weave are really quite compelling. Do you think the falcon speaks to a sense of agency? This is about materiality but about the agency the raw materials represent, like falconry as part of elite craftsmanship. Curator: Perhaps so. Falcons often symbolise nobility and freedom. Arbo could very well be using that symbolism to hint at Ingeborg's inner strength, despite her apparent wistfulness. He wanted to capture the zeitgeist. Editor: Well, that makes the painting even more rewarding for me – it’s more than just a surface representation, there’s something truly textural here both visually, materially and historically, woven into the depiction. Curator: Precisely! A lovely dive into national narratives. Editor: Absolutely, thinking of those weavings and pigments has definitely reconfigured my perspective.