The Funeral of a Viking

Frank Dicksee 1853 - 1928

Summary

Dark and dramatic depiction of the funeral of a Viking, his body being set to sea on a burning pyre. Standing on the shore, to the right of the composition, are a crowd of Viking men and soldiers with arms and weapons raised as the burning ship carrying the body is pushed out. Most prominent of these figures is that of an armoured man standing forward of the crowd, wearing a crested helmet and a breast-plate with raised ornamentation, with his right arm raised and holding a flaming torch in his left. The boat, with a stern carved into the form of the head of a mythical beast, is hauled into the rough sea by muscular male figures; the recumbent body of the dead Viking, fully armoured, is surrounded by flames. In the background are austere, rocky mountains seen under a dark and stormy sky. Most of the scene is illuminated by the glow of the burning pyre and the torch of the foreground figure, which is reflected in the water and the glistening shore. Frame: designed by the artist: gilt, carved wood; decorated with classical motifs but also with a running chain pattern which is one of the features of the Viking Borre style of ornament, which flourished in the 9th and 10th centuries.

Display Label

The Funeral of a Viking 1893 Sir Frank Bernard Dicksee 1853 - 1928 Oil on canvas A Viking killed in battle is laid out in his boat which has been ceremonially set ablaze and is being pushed out to sea with the tide. Fire and water will combine to release the spirit, allowing the heroic warrior to enter Valhalla, the god Odin's glorious Hall of the Slain. The vantage point that Dicksee has selected invites the viewer to feel they are part of the crowd gathered in the gloom for this ancient ceremony. Viking subjects were unusual in Victorian art although Norsk mythology was becoming popular. Dicksee may have been inspired by a funeral scene in the Anglo Saxon poem Beowulf or perhaps by the discovery of a Viking ship burial which was excavated in 1893, in Gokstad, Norway. The shortage of genuine Viking material available meant that Dicksee had to draw on his imagination, painting an artistic mix of Viking shields, Roman body armour and Celtic horned helmets. Presented by Arthur Burton in memory of his mother 1928.13