Blood Sacrifice: The True Story Behind the Mysterious Painting That Unlocks The Murders

Since its release in late August 2026, Netflix’s latest Nordic noir hit, Blood Sacrifice, has dominated the platform.

Topping the charts in over 54 countries to become Netflix's number one non-English series worldwide, it’s clear global audiences have been craving a new series to fill the void left behind since the second season of The Chestnut Man ended. 

Blood Sacrifice follows detective Thomas Berg’s investigation into the gruesome ritualistic killings of police officers in Stockholm. When two officers are murdered after answering a false 112 call, Berg begins to connect the dots with other similar cases. But in order to solve the crimes, he must reluctantly enlist the help of his reclusive ex-detective father, Alfred.

Spoiler warning: The next paragraphs will reveal some key plot points for Blood Sacrifice, so take care if you’d rather not be spoiled.

For most of the five-episode series, Alfred and Thomas struggle to pin down the murderer’s identity. But towards the end, Alfred realises that an anonymous postcard featuring religious works sent to him (by the killer) could be the key to unlocking the mystery, as the victims’ bodies were positioned in similar ways to several famous religious artworks — most notably Carl Larsson’s Midvinterblot.

How Does the Painting Help Solve the Blood Sacrifice Murders?

We first see Larsson’s Midvinterblot (Midwinter Sacrifice) featured on an anonymous postcard sent to Alfred.

As the investigation continues, Alfred begins to suspect the religious sacrificial nature of the killings, and likens the positioning of the bodies to several prominent religious paintings. But the symbolism of Midvinterblot captivates him the most.

The painting covers an entire wall of the central staircase in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, and depicts a scene from Norse mythology in which King Domalde is sacrificed in order to end a terrible famine. Alfred hones in especially on the central figure, a man concealing a knife behind his back, apparently bowing to the king just before striking.

The similarities between the painting and the case cause Alfred to visit the Nationalmuseum himself — where he meets the 112 killer himself, Peter Johansson. As it turns out, Peter and Alfred already know each other in passing from the police force, and they start chatting, lamenting how things on the force have changed. But, Alfred comes to realise that he is in fact Peter’s intended final victim, the King Domalde to his midwinter famine.

Peter became the 112 killer after his partner was killed on duty two years previously. Due to dispatch negligence by another officer, Lucas, which was covered up, Peter was blamed by many fellow officers for what happened, and his mental health began to slide. After Peter found out that Alfred was also on the dispatch team that night, he decided to set out for bloody revenge against the entire force — with Alfred as his final 'sacrifice'.

The Story Behind Carl Larsson’s Midvinterblot Painting

While the use of Carl Larsson’s painting in Blood Sacrifice is compelling in and of itself, the real history behind Midvinterblot (Midwinter Sacrifice) is just as fascinating.

Swedish painter Carl Larsson originally drafted the painting as part of a commission for the Nationalmuseum stairwell. His first sketches were created in 1910, and in 1915 he presented it to the museum. However, the board decided to reject the piece due to its controversial subject matter.

In fact, the debate around the painting raged on for several decades, making Midvinterblot one of Sweden’s most controversial works of art. Some critics complained about the historical inaccuracy of the painting, while others more poignantly questioned the appropriateness of the violent, pagan subject matter for the museum — a critique that some historians have since come to suspect was politically motivated.

In any case, after Midvinterblot’s rejection, Larsson became bitter, writing in his posthumously published memoir that, "The fate of Midvinterblot broke me!” Already at a very late stage in his career, Larsson considered the painting one of his greatest works, and he maintained a righteous anger about its fate until his death in 1919.

However, in his memoir, Larsson also expressed hope for Midvinterblot, writing “…my intuition tells me – once again! – that this painting, with all its weaknesses, will one day, when I'm gone, be honoured with a far better placement" — and so it was.

The painting was shown briefly at the Nationalmuseum before eventually settling at the Archive for Public Decorative Art in Lund. In the 1980s, the painting was shown at the Swedish History Museum, and a fresh controversy erupted around it when it was once again offered to the Nationalmuseum and was again rejected. 

In 1987, Midvinterblot was purchased by a Japanese art collector, who loaned it to the Nationalmuseum for their 1992 bicentennial celebration of Carl Larsson’s works. It was then that the painting finally assumed its intended place, and was received by the public with enthusiasm — clearly indicating a change in cultural priorities and opinions.

In 1997, the Nationalmuseum bought Midvinterblot from the collector and installed it permanently in the stairwell, 82 years after it was first rejected.