Isle of the Dead (painting)
A dreamlike painting of a desolate islet with cypress trees.
Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons
Arnold Böcklin’s *Isle of the Dead* (German: *Die Toteninsel*) is the Swiss Symbolist painter’s most famous work. Reproductions of the image were widespread across central Europe in the early 1900s; writer Vladimir Nabokov noted in his 1934 novel *Despair* that a print could be “found in every Berlin home.” Böcklin created multiple versions of the painting between 1880 and 1886, now held in Basel, New York City, Berlin, and Leipzig. A sixth version, commissioned in 1901, was started by Böcklin but left unfinished at his death in January 1901, and was completed by his son Carlo. It belongs to the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.
All versions show a barren, rocky island seen across dark water. A small rowboat approaches a water gate and seawall. An oarsman steers from the stern; a figure dressed entirely in white stands in the bow, facing the gate. Just ahead of the figure is a white, draped object usually taken to be a coffin. The island is covered by a dense grove of tall cypress trees—long linked to cemeteries and mourning—hemmed in by steep cliffs. Sepulchral openings and windows appear in the rock faces, reinforcing the funereal mood.
Böcklin never publicly explained the painting’s meaning, though he called it “a dream picture: it must produce such a stillness that one would be awed by a knock on the door.” The title was given by art dealer Fritz Gurlitt in 1883, not by Böcklin, though it stems from a phrase in an 1880 letter to the work’s first commissioner. Unaware of the early versions’ history, many viewers have interpreted the oarsman as Charon, the ferryman of Greek myth, the water as the River Styx or Acheron, and the white-clad passenger as a soul crossing to the afterlife.
The painting partly evokes the English Cemetery in Florence, Italy, where the first three versions were made. That cemetery was near Böcklin’s studio and held the grave of his infant daughter Maria (Böcklin lost eight of his fourteen children). The rocky islet may have been modeled on Pontikonisi, a small, lush island near Corfu with a chapel amid cypress trees, possibly combined with Strombolicchio, a rocky islet near Sicily’s Stromboli volcano. (The island of Ponza in the Tyrrhenian Sea is a less likely candidate.)
Böcklin finished the first version in May 1880 for patron Alexander Günther but kept it for himself.
- Artist
- Arnold Böcklin
- Born
- 1827
- Died
- 1901
- Nationality
- Swiss
- Field
- Painting
- Known for
- Isle of the Dead
Lore & Background
All versions of Isle of the Dead depict a desolate and rocky islet seen across an expanse of dark water. A small rowing boat is just arriving at a water gate and seawall on shore. An oarsman maneuvers the boat from the stern. In the bow, facing the gate, is a standing figure clad entirely in white. Just ahead of the figure is a white, festooned object commonly interpreted as a coffin. The tiny islet is dominated by a dense grove of tall, dark cypress trees—associated by long-standing tradition with cemeteries and mourning—which is closely hemmed in by precipitous cliffs. Furthering the funerary theme are what appear to be sepulchral portals and windows on the rock faces. Böcklin himself provided no public explanation as to the meaning of the painting, though he did describe it as 'a dream picture: it must produce such a stillness that one would be awed by a knock on the door'. The title, which was conferred by art dealer Fritz Gurlitt in 1883, was not originally Böcklin's, though it stems from a phrase in an 1880 letter to the work's first commissioner. Adolf Hitler acquired the fifth version of the painting (painted in 1886), not the third version (1883). The third version was acquired by the Alte Nationalgalerie in 1920.
Reader's Guide
Isle of the Dead is Arnold Böcklin's most famous work, a Symbolist painting that became a cultural touchstone in early 20th-century central Europe. Its haunting image of a solitary islet, cypress trees, and a boat bearing a white-clad figure resonated widely, with prints appearing in many Berlin homes. The painting's meaning remains ambiguous, as Böcklin offered no public explanation, though it is often interpreted as an allegory of death and the afterlife. The work inspired numerous adaptations across media, including Sergei Rachmaninoff's symphonic poem, Val Lewton's horror film, and Salvador Dalí's surrealist painting. Its influence extended to video games such as SIGNALIS. The painting also attracted notable admirers: Sigmund Freud kept a reproduction in his office, Vladimir Lenin had one above his bed, and Adolf Hitler acquired an original version. The various versions, created between 1880 and 1901, are held in museums in Basel, New York, Berlin, Leipzig, and Saint Petersburg.
Did You Know?
- Böcklin produced six versions of Isle of the Dead between 1880 and 1901.
- The painting inspired Rachmaninoff's symphonic poem Isle of the Dead, Op. 29 (1909).
- Adolf Hitler acquired the third version of the painting in 1933.
More in Iconic Paintings 1-24
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced