Lot 63

Emil Schwantner (1880 - 1956) RATTENFÄNGER

Pied Piper of Hamelin by brothers Grimm or Rat-catcher from the novel by Viktor Dyk - a character depicted by Emil Schwantner comes from a folk story of a town flooded by rats. For some amount of money, man with a flute dressed in a colourful garb offers them help. When he plays the flute, enchanted rats follow him to Vezera river and drown to death. When city councilor refuses to pay, rat-catcher later returns and takes away children with the same magic. The oldest mention of this story comes from 1300s. Emil Schwantner excelled at formulating figural subjects and also paid attention to antiwar subject. Among mythological and folk themed sculptures we shall mention Satyr, Wounded Amazon or Krakonoš (Rübezahl).