Prelude to Lohengrin

Fantin-Latour revered the composers Berlioz, Schumann, and particularly Wagner, all of whom he honored in numerous lithographs. His Wagner-inspired imagery allowed him to express the deep emotions he felt when listening to his music and amount to an homage to the composer. The plots of Wagner’s operas were well-known in late-nineteenth-century France, despite official prohibitions on their performance after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. Fantin-Latour could therefore count on his viewers to bring a thorough knowledge of the operas to his atmospheric Wagnerian scenes.