Abnoba, goddess of the Black Forest and Danube
Abnoba, goddess of the Black Forest and Danube
Abnoba was a goddess of the Black Forest and Danube River, worshipped by Celtic Gauls, and later by Romans, as Diana Abnoba (goddess of the hunt). Abnoba is believed to mean fog or mist on the river.
There are two alters in Roman baths in Badenweiler and Mühlenbach, Germany, respectively, inscribed with the name of “Diana Abnoba” (see below). Rome annexed Gaul in about 51 BC; and it’s conceivable that they attempted to merge gods and goddesses of the two civilizations.
!
I chose to represent Abnoba, because I have an affinity for the forest—to me a kind of sacred place, where trees whisper amongst themselves, their vocal chords, the wind. I love how nature’s cycle of life, and decay-giving life, again, is reduced to the obvious; even there on the forest floor; where I can see it, below my feet and hands, elbows, and curious eye.
But to the Celtic Gauls, the forest was life, itself. It was the source of food—they hunted there; the source of firewood for warmth and cooking; for fresh water; and no doubt weapons. The forest was a shield, protecting them.
How interesting to have a woman—a divine woman, no less, guarding these very precious resources—the Black Forest, the Danube River, and surrounding rivers and streams. What is it about a woman that would make her the best candidate for protecting the two resources that meant life or death to entire communities?
I leave you to contemplate that.
Hopefully “Abnoba, goddess of the Black Forest and Danube”, will inspire someone who sees it to become the protector of their own region’s rivers, woods, and creatures—great and small. They need us, as we need them.
—
Digital Work by F.A. Moore, June 23-24, 2009, in watercolor style; influenced by the art style of Pre-Raphaelites and Arts and Crafts movement.
Special thanks to stock providers, the beautiful model from mizzd-stock, FantasyStock, idnurse41, CAStock, LucieG, Dragonic-Stock and wikipedia for 2 special images in the public domain.
ABOUT THIS WORK:
I added a variety of creatures to illustrate the ease with which Abnoba must have related to them.
Look closely and you will find that animals, birds, reptiles, and insects are all represented. Only fish are not represented. (Darn! forgot!)
Information was a bit scarce on the animals that reside in the Black Forest region of Germany, except that there are the usual forest animals, including fox and big cats.
The Sperlingskauz, a forest owl; and the Kolkrabe, a species of Raven, were specifically noted as being special to the region. I was lucky enough to find images of these two in the public domain on wikipedia images.
Look for the Black Forest’s Sperlingskauz (owl) and the Kolkrabe (Raven) in the piece.
DETAIL – at 100% scale of 3335×5000 pixels

Big cat detail ^

Racoon detail ^

Kolkrabe raven detail ^

Fawn detail ^

Face. Click to see flower, shoulder, canary, and fox head detail ^
Abnoba, goddess of the Black Forest and Danube belongs to the following groups:
! Inspired Art !, All In, "Editing", All Things Poetic, Artistic, Philosophical, Art Nouveau and the Arts & Crafts Movement, Core [C.O.R.E], Digital Art Compilations (No Nudity Allowed), Digital Artists United, Dimensions, Enchanting Powerful Photo Manipulation (2 per day), Fantasy Fine Art Composites, Feminine Intent (LIMIT TWO IMAGES PER DAY), Freedom to Shine, Friends of RedBubble, Mature Woman, PixElations - The Art of Photoshop, Spiritual Art and THE DIVINE FEMININE Available for sale asGreeting Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints, Framed Prints and Posters

Roseann
Beautiful work! Really well done.
F.A. Moore replied
Thanks, Roseann! You’re quick! I was still fussing with the detail urls. This is my entry in current The Divine Feminine challenge.
Roseann
(fingers crossed) Hope you win!
Wayne Cook
What a fascinating shot! So many elements in it!
F.A. Moore replied
Thanks for the kudos, Wayne!
Vasile Stan
Oh, she’s a goddess alright. And this composition is for sure done by the queen of wonderful taste and great talent. Kudos Frannie!
F.A. Moore replied
Vasile, thank you for making my morning! :D
Tahnja
Excellent image indeed! Such a beautiful work
F.A. Moore replied
Tahnja, thank you so much.
Terry Hinkle
Beautiful piece, beautiful words. Great job.
F.A. Moore replied
Terry, thank you very much. That means a lot.
Leanne Inwood
beautiful
F.A. Moore replied
Hi, Leanne, welcome. Thank you. Sometimes beauty is the objective. :)
katarina86
good image
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you Katarina!
Carol Berliner
Woooooow just Wooooooow! amaaaaaazing work!! as always!! I looooove it! Instsant fav!
F.A. Moore replied
Carol, thank you!! And thanks for the fav!!
valzart
WoW! amazing workz sweetheART ALL lovely ;} happy hippy hugglez
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you, Val!
Britta Döll
What a beautiful illustration. I love this.
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you, Britta. I really enjoyed the process—and it was long process. :)
A. JILL GAEBEL
Ohhhh…how very nice! Exceptional, Fran.
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you Jill. I created it for the current challenge at The Divine Feminine group; but as usual, I am the one who gained from the process. This was such a JOY to create! xoxo
Rhenastarr
Beautiful work.
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you very much Rhenastarr, and for favoriting it. I so loved making this.
happyfeet5
Beautiful. And the picture goes perfectly with the description.
F.A. Moore replied
Thanks Iris. lol. I guess that’s because I made both? :))
Anji Johnston
Wonderful composition – so well put together
F.A. Moore replied
Anji, thank you so much. This was a labor of love. Thanks for the favoriting, too. :)
Antanas
lovely work…. indeed
F.A. Moore replied
Hello, Antanas. Wow, so sweet of you to come by and favorite. Thanks so much.
banrai
fine image
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you, banrai! I appreciate your comment. :D
bowenite
Wow. Great work!
F.A. Moore replied
Wow, thank you, bowenite! I loved creating every element of this piece.
DevineDayDreams
beautiful!!!
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you very much!
F.A. Moore replied
Thanks for the fav on this too, Devine! :D
hugh023
A lovely composition. . .
F.A. Moore replied
Thanks, Hugh. Love your Apple icon, too. :)
F.A. Moore replied
And thanks for favoriting!
bigbear2311
Beautiful work!!
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you so very much for visiting her, and for your beautiful comment, BigBear!
Scott d'Almeida
fantastic
F.A. Moore replied
Scott, I don’t know how you have the time to do what you do, and comment too. But I appreciate YOU. Thanks!
Mark Peterson
I like the colors and the style…let me get a hold of this ;) like your comp too. Nice work!
F.A. Moore replied
Thanks, Mark. I value your opinion.
Barbara Brown
Beautiful image and really like the history!!
F.A. Moore replied
Thanks, Barbara! :)
Stephen Thomas
Wonderful work!
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you, Stephen! Delighted to see you.
Barbara Glatzeder
Congratulations on your Top 10 placement in The Celtic/Norse Goddess challenge in THE DIVINE FEMININE!
F.A. Moore replied
Super great! Thank you Barbara, for being the bearer of good news.
Casey Herman
Great compilation! It’s interesting to learn of ancient cultures and beliefs, and your work adds to this.
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you, Casey! I found it interesting to do the research for this!
Isa Rodriguez
I think I have come to this one about eight times so far. and it is time i just add a wow and another wow.. im in love with it..
F.A. Moore replied
Really? Ahhhh, thank you for saying that Isa. She’s been a bit neglected by the critics. But I love this one too, and hope to actually paint it one day, when I can wrestle myself away from this computer.
elenaoleniuc
Splendid work, I like it !
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you, Elena. It’s a very romantic piece. I have always enjoyed the “Pre-Raphelite” works.
ToastedGhost
Gorgeous!
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you, Toasted Ghost!
Jim Ross
Free models and great art, what can be more inspiring! I like this one too, nice touch Fran :)))
F.A. Moore replied
Thanks, Jim. Days of work in this one, but loved every minute of it. I notice that many on RB don’t link back to the model’s stock pages; but since that is all the DA providers ask of those who use their stock, out of respect, I do. :)
Christophe Testi
Beautiful work!
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you very much, Christophe!
Ming Myaskovsky
I enjoyed the symbolism involved as well as the composition~ you are very gifted and talented! :)
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you, Ming; I’m humbled by your compliment.
Robyn Russell
wow, this is gorgeous! so detailed ….
F.A. Moore replied
Hi, Robyn, thank you very much. Yes, a lot of detail.
Boyd Alexander
Extraordinary!! You are truly an artist!!
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you, Boyd; it’s so good to see you.
Steve Buffington
Wonderful Fran. Look at all the details.—Steve
F.A. Moore replied
Thanks, Steve; yes, and look and look…lots of details. :)
Ted Byrne
So powerfully imagined… and then executed to make me wonder. And after all, art without wonder is merely craft, huh?
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you, Ted. I wonder about your wonder. :)
tazzina
b
r
a
v
o
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you, Tazzina. I just paid a nice visit to your exciting portfolio.
F.A. Moore replied
I meant to say thanks for your favoriting Abnoba, too. :)
vadim19
Awesome!
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you, Vadim!
EvaLarsen
Great work, very well done.
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you, Eva!
robpixaday
What a marvel!!!!
Wow!
I’m so sorry I didn’t see this before…I really need to wander around your site more. Having the little thumbnails makes it easy to skip over things…I remember seeing her before (the thumbnail) and thinking she was a portrait of a relative and didn’t click on her. I’m truly an Art Heathen, hunh?
Or maybe it’s the myopia.
Anyway, brava!!!!!!
F.A. Moore replied
I’m so glad you discovered Abnoba…. Thank you, Robin.
Mui-Ling Teh
This is beautiful!
F.A. Moore replied
Thank you much. :D
I see you found my admiring comments on your oragami.
Husky
Great image!! Do I see a “cleavage” ;) seriously,,, goo one Frannie!
F.A. Moore replied
Okay, that was funny. Thanks, Dale. :)
louisegreen
Another lovely creation:-)
F.A. Moore replied
You’re so wonderful to be frolicking through my portfolio and commenting. Thank you Louise. :)
PcKris about 1 month ago
Very beautiful and detailed Fran, nature and life at it’s finest. Awesome !
F.A. Moore replied about 1 month ago
Thank you, Kris. It’s great to see you here, my friend. Do you know how to favorite? There’s a tiny link, just below the image.