Centaur at the Village Blacksmith

Arnold Böcklin's Centaur at the Village Blacksmith (1888) is one of his characteristically whimsical mythological subjects — depicting the hybrid horse-man of Greek mythology in a prosaic modern situation, having his hooves shod at a blacksmith's forge. Böcklin delighted in this kind of imaginative juxtaposition: ancient mythological creatures placed in contemporary European settings, the anachronism creating both humor and a sense that mythology is perpetually present beneath the modern surface. The centaur at the blacksmith participates in the Swiss painter's ongoing project of making ancient creatures as real as any contemporary subject.

Böcklin renders the centaur with the illusionist conviction that characterized all his mythological subjects — the human upper body and horse lower body integrated convincingly, the creature shown in the genuine embarrassment of a practical situation (having to bend or kneel for the blacksmith). The forge setting — warm with fire light, dark elsewhere — provides dramatic lighting. His palette combines the warm ochres and reds of the forge atmosphere with the cooler outdoor light. The humorous subject is treated with technical seriousness.