Icelanders are set to “beat a path” to Aberystwyth to see an original painting of an icon of the country’s culture.

The first ever female personification of Iceland, Fjallkona – The Lady of the Mountain, was commissioned from a German artist by a Welsh patron, and the painting was bequeathed to Aberystwyth University in 1882.

Gudmundur Oddur Magnússon, research professor at Iceland University of the Arts, and artist Unnar Orn, arrived in Aberystwyth last week to see the original painting, housed in the School of Art Museum on campus.

Gudmundur believes that they are the first Icelanders to see the artwork since it was painted in the mid-1860s prior to its publication as a wood engraving in 1866.

Though the black-and-white engraving was subsequently copied and reinterpreted over some 160 years, beyond Aberystwyth the existence of the original painting – in colour – was until now forgotten.

The image of The Lady of the Mountain, as executed by German-born, London-domiciled painter Johann Baptist Zwecker (1814-1876) is now a national icon.

It has appeared on postage stamps, T-shirts and mobile phone cases.

Every year on 17 June, Iceland’s National Day, Icelandic women commonly dress as Zwecker’s Fjallkona.

The original painting of The Lady of the Mountain was commissioned by George E J Powell (1842-1882), heir to the Nanteos Estate.

The painting was commissioned along with numerous illustrations for an historical tome Icelandic Legends, an attempt at a definitive history of Iceland.

Zwecker’s painting of The Lady of the Mountain served as frontispiece for the second volume.

The watercolour was later transcribed into black and white and engraved onto boxwood, making it available for all, but the original remained in Aberystwyth.

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