About this work
*Midwinter's Sacrifice* (*Midvinterblot*) is a monumental oil-on-canvas painting completed in 1915, depicting the dramatic sacrifice of the mythical King Domalde from Norse legend — offered to the gods at the pagan temple of Gamla Uppsala to end a prolonged famine.
The work measures an extraordinary 640 by 1,360 centimetres and portrays the naked king being drawn on a gilded sledge by attendants toward an executioner, with a one-eyed priest holding Thor's hammer at the centre, surrounded by a crowd of warriors, priests, and onlookers.
In the frozen midwinter, the king has been dragged before the temple in ancient Uppsala; the high priest who is to perform the sacrifice conceals the knife behind his back as the king is about to step off the sledge onto the altar.
The colours are forceful, with considerable amounts of gold — something Larsson intended as a deliberate disclaimer of the common notion that prehistory was grey.
The style shows strong Art Nouveau influence and, in its gilding and decoration, is reminiscent of Gustav Klimt. The composition unfolds like a horizontal frieze: ceremonial, theatrical, and utterly unlike anything else in Larsson's output.
Drawing from Snorri Sturluson's 13th-century *Ynglingasaga*, the painting illustrates Larsson's fascination with Sweden's pre-Christian heritage, though no historical evidence confirms the existence of Domalde or the specific event.
Larsson had been commissioned to decorate the walls of the central staircase at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, and had created a suite of murals depicting Swedish history — the first part finished with *Gustav Vasa Enters Stockholm, 1523* in 1896, a triumphant king with a midsummer theme. He now wanted to complete the empty wall with the very opposite theme: a midwinter theme involving a sacrificed king.
While working on *Midvinterblot*, Larsson experienced the onset of an eye problem and a worsening of his frequent headaches. When the museum's board rejected it, demanding the central sacrifice scene be removed or suppressed, Larsson refused. Despite the negativity against him and the museum not expressing interest in purchasing it, Larsson still completed the project at his own expense.
It is clear that he began to identify himself with the work — and possibly with the sacrificed king himself — as he perceived conspiracies and bad intentions behind the opposition. This identification was made explicit in his 1916 self-portrait, in which he presented himself as King Domalde.
After many decades of controversy and occasional exhibitions, the painting was finally installed where it was supposed to be — in Stockholm's Nationalmuseum — in
