 Isle of the Dead, by Arnold Böcklin (Switzerland) 1880  Isle of the Dead, by Arnold Böcklin (Switzerland) 1880 Böcklin: Das Toteninsel Böcklin painted the picture five times as if he knew he was going there eventually outlining along the way not to miss anything this is the way artists sometimes work as if to store the moments without thinking about what to make of them as they stock up there are some who think he has painted the picture of the Island of the Dead after the English cemetery in Rome where Shelley lies after giving up the spirit under much persuasion some of the cemetery trees there are clearly growing on the Island of the Dead in Böcklin's painting there are some who believe that a Greek island near Corfu must have been Böcklin's inspiration for the island, the Island of the Dead, though everyone knows that it lies inside himself this can be clearly seen in the painting it's as if life steps forward and says: Let me just hold this anxiety and so Böcklin can paint on as if the Island of the Dead sets up its abode within him and lives in him for the rest of the time he has before he must go there himself some people think that man is not immortal that it must go to the Lake of Death everyone carries as a birthmark and that it lies in the sea whose dark surface always breathes lightly, day and night full of malevolent dreams only the time spent is the time under way to the Island of the Dead time that stands still while life moves on lasts forever there is a boat on its way in off the island like another Charon sailing the souls of the dead over Styx to the final resting place of the dead in Hades, the underworld where all shrub is colorless until each person comes upon a thought or an image of the mind or a runic word taking a shape corresponding to the surroundings ultimately comprising their colour Böcklin's Island of the Dead has no gates one can sail in there directly past two pillars standing there, namelessly it could be the pillars Boaz and Jakin that stood outside the first temple of the Jews erected in front of churches all the way up through Tuscany as a reminder of how pillars can be guardians of sacred entrances as long as they bear names whose origin is known Böcklin's columns hold unknown names and between them is not a stone ground floor but the sea that carries the island and the boat you arrive on, as well as all the thoughts there are no gates at the entrance to Böcklin's dead island the sea carries one there one does not need to have an access card when one has arrived one has come in a sole movement the solitary movement of the breathing of the sea the island is not guarded, the white back on the ferryman is not Charon it must be Böcklin himself if it is true that the Island of the Dead lives in all of us and that we all hear the waves the boat is decorated but no one can know by whom and where it has been executed, perhaps by someone who once bought it or inherited it on the first editions of the painting there is a staircase up on some of them there are no columns the trees grow differently in the different versions just like in dreams some years the white figure who is Böcklin himself stands upright in the boat but always seen from the back just as one always sees a human being who is dead from the back because he has no soul anchored in a figure some years the white figure is more bent over as if death has been entangled in an underground field of reeds or grasses or has been wrapped around the legs of someone lying down there every night in dreams or around the oar and the long barge pole by which the boat is moved forward what one does not know is if the white figure when he has arrived and left the boat with inaudible sighs are supposed to stay in the abandoned buildings on the island behind the tall sturdy conifers maybe they are not abandoned, just not inhabited yet the buildings on the island are becoming more and dilapidated as the years go by in Böcklin's painting, in the first versions the air is fresh around them and the sunlight reaches them in the last version of the Island of the Dead the buildings are quite differently darkened to one side there is a tall building with windows - there could be books in there one might be able to sense that time existed in there that time actually was a place and not a void that it moved when one was there to the other side are the ruins of a cave in there, there are no books and if there were they would be damaged dirty, musty one would not care to hold them in one's hands The boat is led by a helper dressed in a decorated suit, and as the years go by he becomes more and more naked as if man shows more of himself while shame seeps into the walls and in through the cracks there and is soaked up by the water, decreases like a flow of waves Böcklin talked about the second picture Das Lebeninsel, the Island of Life and it is known he painted it but no one has come upon it, it has not been seen ** Danish: Böcklin: Das Toteninsel Böcklin malede billedet fem gange som om han vidste han skulle derhen til sidst og ville skitsere undervejs for ikke at gå glip af noget det er den måde kunstnere nogle gange arbejder som om de kan opbevare øjeblikkene uden at tænke på hvor de skal gøre af dem efterhånden som der bliver mange af dem der er nogle der mener at han har malet billedet af dødeøen efter den engelske kirkegård i Rom hvor Shelley ligger efter at have opgivet ånden under megen overtalelse visse af kirkegårdstræerne vokser tydeligvis på dødeøen på Böcklins billede der er nogle der mener at en græsk ø nær Corfu må have været Böcklins inspiration til øen, De dødes ø, selvom alle ved at den er inde i ham selv det kan man tydeligt se på maleriet det er som om livet træder frem og siger: Lad mig lige holde den her angst og Böcklin maler videre som om De dødes ø tager bo i ham og lever i ham hele resten af den tid han har inden han selv skal derhen nogle mennesker tror at mennesket ikke er udødeligt at det skal hen til den dødsø alle har inden i sig som et modermærke og at den ligger i havet hvis mørke flade der altid duver let, dag og nat fuldt af onde drømme kun den tid der er forbrugt er tiden på vej mod dødeøen den tid der står stille mens livet bevæger sig lever evigt der er en båd på vej ind på øen som en anden Charon der sejler de dødes sjæle over Styx til de dødes endelige opholdssted i Hades, underverdenen hvor alle vækster er farveløse indtil den enkelte finder en tanke eller et sindbillede eller et runeagtigt ord der tager form efter omgivelserne og til sidst rummer deres farve i sig, Böcklins dødeø har ingen porte man kan sejle direkte derind forbi to søjler der står der, navnløse det kunne være søjlerne Boaz og Jakin de to søjler der stod udenfor jødernes første tempel og som er rejst foran kirker hele vejen op gennem Toscana som mindet om hvordan søjler kan være vogtere af hellige indgange bare de har navne hvis oprindelse er kendt Böcklins søjler bærer ukendte navne og mellem dem er ikke stengrunden men havet som bærer øen og båden man kommer i og alle tanker der er ingen porte ved indgangen til Böcklins dødeø havet bærer en derind man skal ikke have adgangskort når man er ankommet er man der i én bevægelse i havets åndedræts uforlignelige bevægelse øen er ikke bevogtet, den hvide ryg man ser på færgemanden er ikke Charon det må være Böcklin selv hvis det er sandt at dødeøen bor i os alle sammen man hører skvulpene båden er dekoreret men ingen kan vide af hvem og hvor det er sket, måske af nogen der engang har købt den eller arvet den på de første udgaver af maleriet er der en trappe op på nogle af dem er der ingen søjler træerne vokser forskelligt på de forskellige versioner ligesom i drømme i nogle år er den hvide skikkelse som er Böcklin selv opret i båden, men ser ham altid fra ryggen sådan som man altid ser et menneske der er død fra ryggen fordi han jo ingen sjæl har der er fast forankret i en skikkelse i visse år er den hvide skikkelse mere krumbøjet som om døden er blevet viklet ind i et underjordisk område af siv eller græsser der har viklet sig om benene på en der ligger dernede hver nat i sine drømme eller om styrepinden og den lange åre båden stages frem ved det man ikke ved er om den hvide skikkelse når han er kommet frem og har forladt båden med uhørlige sukke skal være i de forladte bygninger der er på øen bag de høje faste nåletræer måske er de ikke forladte, de er blot ikke beboede endnu øens bygninger bliver mere og forfaldne som årene går i Böcklins maleri, i de første versioner er luften frisk omkring dem og sollyset rammer dem i den sidste version af dødeøen er bygningerne helt anderledes dunkle til den ene side er der en høj bygning med vinduer, der kunne være bøger derinde man kunne måske opleve at tiden fandtes derinde at tiden faktisk var et sted og ikke et tomrum at den gik når man var der til den anden side er der ruiner af en hule derinde er ingen bøger og hvis der var ville de være skadede mugne, jordslåede man ville ikke bryde sig om at have dem i hænderne båden er ført af en hjælper klædt i en dekoreret dragt, som årene går bliver han mere og mere nøgen som om mennesket viser mere af sig selv mens skammen siver ind i væggene i de sprækker der er opsuges i vandet og aftager som et bølgeskvulp Böcklin har talt om det andet billede Das Lebeninsel, livets ø og man ved han har malet det men ingen har fundet det, ingen har set det Jakob Brønnum The Danish version was originally published in the collection Øjeblikkets tredje tilstand [The Third State of The Moment] (Det poetiske bureaus forlag, Copenhagen, 2018). Jakob Brønnum has published 41 books in Danish. His work has appeared in La Piccioletta Barca and Beyond Words Literary Magazine. He lives in Sweden with his family.  Isle of the Dead, by Arnold Böcklin (Switzerland) 1883  Isle of the Dead, by Arnold Böcklin (Switzerland) 1884 (photograph)  Isle of the Dead, by Arnold Böcklin (Switzerland) 1886
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March 2023
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