This illustration, labeled “Runokuvitus, Der Zauberlehrling” in the Finnish National Gallery, was created by the German artist Johann Baptist Sonderland (c. 1805-1878). Sonderland’s artwork and its title reference the poem, Der Zauberlehrling, by the famous German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (c. 1749-1832). The poem featured the cautionary tale of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, warning against prematurely utilizing abilities that are not fully understood. Curiously, the tale that inspired Goethe’s poem dates all the way back to ancient Rome. Lucian of Samosata (c. 120-180) wrote down the first known iteration of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice tale, featuring the well-known scene of a magician casting a spell to bring to life common house tools, such as brooms, and compelling them to fetch water and do other household chores. Lucian, narrating as the apprentice, commented on this, stating, “whenever we came to a lodging-place, he would take the bar of the door or a broom or even the pestle, dress it in clothes, utter a spell and make it walk, looking to everyone else like a man. Then it would go off, draw water, buy food, prepare meals, and in everything serve and wait on us dexterously” (Lucian, Lovers of Lies or The Skeptic, section 35). This display of the sorcerer’s power is what inspired the artwork above. Nevertheless, as it is a cautionary tale, something eventually went wrong. As the famous tale goes, the apprentice memorized the words of the magic spell and decided to try out the trick alone after the sorcerer left for an errand. Upon carrying out the magical ritual, the unfortunate apprentice realized that he had never learned how to undo the spell, and the result was that the sorcerer’s house was flooded with water fetched by the unceasing magically-animated servants. Eventually, the sorcerer returned, and with palpable disappointment, the magician undid the spell and promptly abandoned the apprentice.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- Lucian, Selected Dialogues, translated by C. D. N. Costa. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Oxford World Classics), 2005, 2006, 2009.
- https://www.kansallisgalleria.fi/en/object/536003
