Hugo Simberg

Hugo Gerhard Simberg was born on June 24, 1873, in Hamina. In 1895, dissatisfied with academic schooling, he became the private pupil of Akseli Gallen-Kallela at his wilderness studio Kalela in Ruovesi, developing an intensely personal, mystical symbolism.

Simberg painted small demons (peikot), gentle skeletons, and angels with child-like innocence and tender melancholy. In 1903, he completed his iconic canvas Haavoittunut enkeli (The Wounded Angel), depicting two solemn peasant boys carrying a blindfolded, winged angel on a stretcher across Eläintarha park (voted Finland's 'National Painting' in 2006). Between 1904 and 1906, he created the controversial, extraordinary frescoes in Tampere Cathedral, including Kuoleman puutarha (The Garden of Death).