“Alma Mater” is an artwork by Edvard Munch, created during the period from 1911 to 1916. Employing oil on canvas as his medium, Munch contributes to the Expressionist movement through this piece. This genre painting spans an impressive 455 x 1160 cm and is housed at the University of Oslo, located in Oslo, Norway.
The artwork depicts a woman seated at the center, embodying a nurturing presence as she holds a child. Her tranquil expression and the act of cradling the young one evoke the idea of motherhood and the protective quality it entails, resonating with the piece’s title, “Alma Mater,” which means “nourishing mother” in Latin. The painting is suffused with a vibrant yet soothing color palette, symbolic of the natural world and human sensibility combined, a typical trait of Munch’s expressionistic style. The expansive canvas encapsulates a scene complete with figures in various postures, rich foliage, a calm body of water, and architecture in the background, perhaps suggesting the importance of knowledge and learning, consistent with the painting’s location at an institution of higher education. The emotion emanated from the subject matter and the stylistic execution pervades the artwork, aiming to evoke a response that transcends mere visual appreciation.
