Oil on canvas, 169 x 100 cm

Нова пінакотека
	Власна назва	Neue Pinakothek
	Parent institution	Баварські державні колекції картин
	Місце	Мюнхен
	Координати	48° 08′ 59″ пн. ш., 11° 34′ 16″ сх. д.
	Заснований	1853
	Вебсайт	www.pinakothek.de
	Нормативний контроль	: Q170152 VIAF: 160813173 ISNI: 0000000123248656 ULAN: 500303326 OSM: 1644123 LCCN: n50064521 WorldCat

Schwind was a key figure in Vienna. He was a Romantic artist and music was of great importance to him as thematic reference. In 1852 he "composed" A Symphony in oils, and provided the commentary on it himself: "The whole should be imagined as the Beethoven wall of a music room... and it is based on a composition by Beethoven, the Fantasia in C for Piano, Orchestra and Choir..." Schwind said that the individual zones of his painting, into which he wove a love story, correspond to the four movements of Beethoven's composition. At the bottom we see a chamber music rehearsal (Introduction), in which one of the young listeners falls in love with the singer; later they meet in a wood (Andante); above this again we see the young man declaring his feelings at a ball (Adagio); and finally, in the little castle, the happy husband and his bride are setting off for their honeymoon in the stronghold of bliss (Rondo). Schwind's painting and his explanation of it indicate a basic phenomenon of the time - the combination of story and music to make program music. In Schwind's work we find the beginnings of the total work of art Wagner was to proclaim.