Original artwork description:

"Walpurgis night", acrylic, ink, silver acrylic, pencil marker, watersoluble pencils, etc, on stretched canvas, 60X60 cm.

This night scene is a dreamed illustration of the Walpurgis night, in a "steam punk" style.
The night of Walpurgis, named in honor of Santa Walburge (710-779), is a neo-pagan festival that takes place on the night of 30 April to 1 May. Celebrated clandestinely throughout Europe from remote times, in spite of the prohibitions and excommunications of the Church, she was identified with the sabbath1 of the witches. It is mostly the symbol of the end of winter, sometimes associated with the planting of the May tree or the burning of great fires. This date also corresponds to Beltain / Beltane / Beltane, one of the eight festivals inscribed in the Celtic calendar or on the Wheel of the Year.

In ancient Germany, it was believed that at that time the pagan divinities of spring (gods and goddesses of fertility) spread in nature to end the winter. The Church tried to discredit this feast by turning the divinities into "devils" and (especially) into witches. From there proceeds the "magic" and "sulphurous" character of the Walpurgisnacht - used and reinforced by many writers, notably Walpurgis' night dance in the Goethe Faust or, in modern times, in the works of Gustav Meyrinck, Sheridan Le Fanu, Bram Stoker, and others. It is also found in music, as in Felix Mendelssohn in "Die Erste Walpurgisnacht", Op. 60.

Today, the festival has survived mainly in Sweden in an altered and harmless form. On 30 April, Valborgsmässoafton, students from Uppsala University (founded in 1477) gathered in front of the Fyris River, which crosses the town, and proceed to the (simulated) destruction of their old caps winter.

This is an original painting, ready to hang.

This handmade artwork will be delivered with an invoice and a signed certificate of authenticity.

Shipping carefully packed and tracked.


"steam punk" atmospheric blue brown celadon celtic green grey legend moonlight mysterious nocturnal path red sky sorcery soul spirit symbolism tale witches women woodland

Materials used:

acrylic, ink, pencils, silver acrylic

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