Romanticism Exhibition

Chess with the king

This fairy tale, written by the Arnims’ youngest daughter, Gisela, is a thinly veiled satire of the Prussian king, who liked to drink champagne and – as his corpulence suggests – was fond of eating. The illustrations were made by Gisela’s future husband, Herman Grimm, son of Wilhelm Grimm. They incorporate motifs from the arabesque for Friedrich Wilhelm IV, providing an ironic or burlesque counterpoint to it.