#Valentine’s Day 2019
Hellelil and Hildebrand, the Meeting on the Turret Stairs (1864)
- …is a painting in the National Gallery of Ireland
- …by Irish artist Frederic William Burton (1816-1900).
- Based on a medieval Danish ballad about the ill-starred love between
- Hellelil and her bodyguard, Hildebrand,
- …it features the lovers sharing a fleeting moment of intimacy.
- Things don’t go well for them.
- When her father discovers their attachment he orders
- ..that her seven brothers should kill Hildebrand.
- But the bodyguard turns out to be a formidable adversary.
- He has killed six of the brothers and Hellelil’s father.
- Hellelil intervenes to save the life of her surviving sibling.
- Hildebrand succumbs to his wounds and
- …she decides she cannot live without him.
- #Breathtaking
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NancyElin 
Lovely! I’ve never seen this painting before & enjoyed finding out the background to it.
Carol, this painting took my breath away! Usually love is in the eyes of the man and women….but Burton concentrated on an aspect we often overlook…
..look at the body language! This is a wonderful piece of art for ‘art appreciation’ lesson for children!