
How Ludwig II’s love for Wagner inspired the world’s greatest work of fan art - tintinnabula
https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/music/how-deep-your-love
======
pillowkusis
Ludwig is memorable to me because he stands out as the essential Nerd long,
long before it was OK to be a nerd.

Ludwig’s life was tragic largely because he was so far from society’s norms
and expectations. Gay, uninterested in his family’s court, definitely not
neurotypical (his brother was likely schizophrenic) and unquestionably nerdy;
in the early 1800s, he defied basically every expectation society had of him
and paid the price by being deeply unhappy, getting overthrown, and dying in
his 30s. He’s a patron saint and martyr of Nerd-dom, almost, although of
course the history is more nuanced than that.

His story serves as a reminder of how good us nerds (and anyone outside the
“norm”) have it now. Being obsessed with art, opera, science, or computers
just makes you a super-fan — there’s a website, subreddit, and convention just
for people like you. Computers and the Internet made nerds like Bill Gates
cool, and enabled all of us outside of societal norms to find and accept each
other. I’m sorry Ludwig never got to post at wagner-fan-forums.com. He would
have liked it there.

------
emodendroket
The greatest work of fan art? How about the Aeneid? :)

~~~
olavk
I'm not sure "fan art" has an exact definition, but I think the term only
applies to art inspired by fictional creations, not art based on history or
mythology.

~~~
emodendroket
The Aeneid is clearly inspired by and derivative of Homer.

~~~
olavk
Yeah but Homer was considered history or mythology, not fiction. Homer didn't
invent the characters or story line. I guess it is rather grey area, but I
consider "fan art" art that is derivative of a specific artistic expression.
E.g. if i draw Robin Hood as a vampire, it is not fan art, but if I draw
Disneys Robin Hood as a vampire, it is fan art. Don't know if that makes
sense?

~~~
emodendroket
He outright has pastiches on scenes in Homer, so I think it still works.

------
AndrewBissell
Gabriel Knight 2, one of the last full motion video adventure games of the
1990s, used Neuschwanstein, King Ludwig, and a fictional lost Wagner opera as
central elements in its plot. I can't look at Neuschwanstein without thinking
of the atmosphere it lent to that game.

------
Compulsion
I didn't expect Lapham's Quarterly to show up in a Hacker News thread. Good
magazine. Worth the subscription.

