
The dance legend, c. 1905
Oil on canvas
189.5 x 180 cm (74.6 x 70.9 in)
Private collection
Musa is such a passionate dancer that when she is not praying she is dancing, she is even dancing prayers. When she is dancing a prayer to the Holy Virgin, King David appears to her, dances with her and promises her that she will be allowed to dance in heaven forever, if she only renounce it now on earth. Your doubts are overcome by a heavenly melody. She lives solitary in her parents’ garden and even lets her feet be forged together with a chain. When she dies, nature becomes more beautiful, the sky opens up and Musa floats away dancing into eternal bliss. But this is disturbed only once, as the nine muses on a high heavenly holiday who, as pagan deities, languish in hell, are graciously invited. They start a chant out of gratitude. More on The dance legend
Julius Leopold Bernhard Exter (20 September 1863, Ludwigshafen — 16 October 1939, Übersee) was a German painter and sculptor. His work consists mostly of landscapes and portraits…