Henri Frantz

“ After serving his time in the army he set out for Rome in March 1850, and the sight of the Eternal City was a fresh stimulus to his mind. So, too, was the influence of Italian nature and that of the dead pagan world. ”

“ His “Portrait of Myself,” with Death playing a violin (1873) , was painted after his return again to Munich, where he exhibited his famous “Battle of the Centaurs” (in the Basel gallery) ; “Landscape with Moorish Horsemen” (in the Lucerne gallery) ; and “A Farm” (1875) . From 1876 to 1885 Böcklin was working at Florence, and painted a “Pietà,” “Ulysses and Calypso,” “Prometheus,” and the “Sacred Grove.” From 1886 to 1892 he settled at Zürich. Of this period are the “Naiads at Play,” “A Sea Idyll,” and “War.” After 1892 Böcklin resided at San Domenico, near Florence. ”