The Widower (Der Witwer )

August Sander

1914; printed 1976

  • Titles The Widower (Der Witwer ) (Descriptive)
  • Artist August Sander, German, 1876 - 1964
  • Medium gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions sheet: 12 × 8 7/8 in. (30.5 × 22.5 cm) image: 11 1/2 × 8 3/4 in. (29.2 × 22.2 cm) mat: 23 1/2 × 19 5/8 in. (59.7 × 49.8 cm)
  • Credit Line Collection of the Art Fund, Inc. at the Birmingham Museum of Art; Gift of John Hagefstration, AFI.34.2018
  • Work Type photograph
  • Classification Photographs

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This painting depicts an episode from the legend of the Four Crowned Martyrs who were Christian sculptors working for the Roman Emperor Diocletian. When the sculptors refused to carve a statue of a pagan god, Diocletian ordered that the sculptors be sealed alive in lead coffins and thrown into a river. On the left, Diocletian, identified by his crown, directs a group of men in the center to lift a coffin.
A woman in profile and dressed elaborately plays a stringed instrument while reading sheet music. She is set outside within a terrace.
A woman with a sheer flowing dress and long hair runs towards the left with arms stretched outward.
The center figure is being carried through a crowd by several men. He turns his head towards the viewer.