Nymphe with Horn of Plenty

Painted in 1866 and held at the Kunstmuseum Basel, this work depicting a nymph with a horn of plenty engages classical iconography of abundance and natural fertility through one of Böcklin's characteristically free mythological figures. The cornucopia — the horn of plenty — is among the oldest symbols of natural bounty in European art, connected to the myth of Amalthea who nursed the infant Zeus, and more broadly to the Roman goddess Copia (abundance). By placing this attribute in the hands of a nymph rather than a more formal allegorical figure, Böcklin transforms a conventional iconographic element into a living, physically present mythological being. This approach — making ancient symbols inhabit real bodies in real landscapes — is the method that would make him one of the most significant artists of the later nineteenth century.

The cornucopia as a pictorial element provides color and textural contrast — fruits, flowers, foliage overflowing from the curved horn — against the nymph's flesh and the natural background. Böcklin's handling of the still-life abundance of the cornucopia within a figure composition demonstrates the breadth of his technical range.