Medicine and Hygiene: body, snake and controversy
A hieratic goddess in red and gold, a snake drinking from its cup, a river of bodies delivered to birth, illness and death: Klimt refuses to celebrate the medical triumph and provokes one of the greatest artistic scandals from Vienna.
Why Medicine did it cause a scandal?
Klimt was to represent the medical faculty for the ceiling of the great hall of the University of Vienna. The sponsors expected a noble allegory of science, healing and progress. On the contrary, he gave them an immense current of naked, sick, aging, pregnant or dying bodies, dominated by a skeleton.
Hygiaus, Greek goddess of health, is the only figure who looks directly at the audience. She wears the serpent of Asclepius and a cup, but she does not heal anyone. Behind her, humanity seems carried away by forces that medicine does not control. The canvas therefore does not glorify the doctor: it highlights the limits of his power in the face of birth, desire, suffering and death.
Presented in 1901 at the 10th Secession exhibition, the work shocked with its nudes, notably a pregnant woman represented without idealization, and with her pessimism. The controversy became political and reached the Austrian Parliament. In 1905, Klimt definitively abandoned the order and then refused major public contracts.
A human river, not an anatomy lesson
The composition is deliberately asymmetrical. On the right, the bodies are piled up in a vertical column that the sources of the University and Albertina describe as a "current of life". Children, women, men, old people and suffering figures are gathered there.
A skeleton appears at the top of the group: death is integrated into the cycle, not defeated. On the left, a naked woman floats in a much lighter space, with a newborn near her. Two arms connect this isolated figure to the human mass, visually closing the circuit.
Below, Hygieia cuts the flow with her frontality. His ornamental clothing, his gaze and his medical emblems form a threshold between the spectator and suffering humanity.
An image designed for a ceiling
The sign had to be viewed from the floor of the state room. Hygie's tall figure functions as a powerful foreground, while the current of bodies leads the eye to the heights.
The detailed composition
Historical photography does not restore colors, but it allows us to precisely study the structure, the circulation of gestures and the opposition between Hygieia and the human current.
Hygia
Frontal and immobile, she is the only figure who holds the public eye.
The snake
The Asclepius snake wraps itself around his arm and drinks from the cup.
The cut
Albertina combines it with the water of Lethe, a drink of oblivion before the kingdom of the dead.
The current
The ages and states of the body rise into a compact mass, often with the eyes closed.
The skeleton
Death is not external to life: it inhabits the human column.
Mother and child
Pregnancy and birth respond to illness, old age and disappearance.
Who is Hygie?
The colorful figure is often reproduced as a stand-alone painting. However, it was only the lower part of a composition four times taller than a spectator.
Daughter of Asclepius
Hygieia belongs to the mythological family of the Greek god of medicine. Its name gave the word "hygiene".
The snake
It refers to Asclepius, renewal and healing practices. Here he drinks from the cup held by the goddess.
The look
Unlike the figures of the current of life, often absorbed or with their eyes closed, Hygieia stares at us head-on.
Red and gold
Clothing and ornament give the goddess an almost liturgical authority, distinct from the vulnerable flesh behind her.
What we really know about colors
The distinction is essential: no color photographs of the entire painting are known. Modern colored images offer a documented hypothesis, not a certain restitution.
Belvedere and Google Arts & Culture combined historical descriptions, the expertise of Franz Smola and an algorithm trained on works by Klimt. The result gives a possible impression of the whole.
This small composition oil retains a stage of the work. It illuminates the search for masses and colors, without being an exact reduction of the version completed in 1907.
From official order to termination
The affair lasted more than a decade and accompanied the transformation of Klimt: starting from decorative historicism, it resulted in a symbolism that its sponsors no longer recognized.
Order
The ministry entrusts Klimt and Franz Matsch with the ceiling of the large university hall.
First refusals
The ministerial and academic commissions disapprove of Klimt's new directions.
Philosophy
The first painting of the Faculties triggers a petition signed by 87 professors.
Medicine
The presentation to the Secession intensified the scandal and provoked a parliamentary questioning.
Together
Case law joins the other panels; their incompatibility with Matsch becomes evident.
Breakup
Klimt abandons the order, waives its fees and reimburses the advances.
Final state
The three completed works are exhibited in Vienna and then in Berlin, outside the University.
Four accusations, a question of power
Nudity is the most visible part of the controversy. But the conflict also affects the role of the university, the public image of science and the freedom of the artist vis-à-vis the State.
"Too naked"
Women, men, old people, pregnancy and suffering are shown with a frankness considered inappropriate for an official room.
"Too pessimistic"
Science does not enlighten the world: humanity seems given over to an opaque destiny, from birth to skeleton.
"Not medical enough"
No doctor, no treatment, no victory over illness. Hygieia carries the symbols, but does not save the human current.
"Not obedient enough"
Klimt moves sharply away from approved sketches. The case becomes a conflict over the sponsor's right to control the work.
More than 200 studies for a panel
The Albertina lists more than two hundred leaves linked to Medicine. Klimt studies each body separately before integrating it into the collective flow.
Pencil on paper, 45 × 29.2 cm. Arms raised and twists prepare the idea of a group carried away, rather than a stable procession.
View free file →The individual body becomes a human mass
Klimt's drawings first isolate the poses: outstretched arms, inclined torsos, floating figures, pregnant women or folded bodies.
In the final table, these studies lose their autonomy. The silhouettes fit together in a column where ages, sexes and physical states follow one another.
This method explains the tension between anatomical precision and symbolic reading: each body comes from an observation, but the group forms an idea - the cycle of life subject to destiny.
How did the painting disappear?
After the order is terminated, the paintings go into private or public collections. Medicine was acquired by Koloman Moser, then entered the Osterreichische Galerie in 1919. After the Anschluss, Klimt's works linked in particular to the Lederer collection were caught up in Nazi spoliations and displacements.
During the war, the three paintings of the Faculties were sheltered at Immendorf Castle, Lower Austria, along with many other works. On May 8, 1945, the castle burned to the ground. Institutional sources generally attribute the fire to retreating SS units, while maintaining caution about the exact course.
No fragments of the large panel are known. The drawings, black and white photographs, old descriptions and colorful reproduction of Hygieia's detail remain.
Two reconstructions in Vienna
The original no longer exists, but two public devices allow us to understand its scale and its destination: the university ceiling and the facade of MedUni Vienna.
Black and white reproductions have been installed on the ceiling of the great hall in cooperation with the Leopold Museum. For the first time, the project can be seen in the planned location.
The facade of the Anna Spiegel research building bears a large colorful reconstruction. Photo Wolfgang Glock, March 24, 2026, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Official information →
Medicine reimagined by Master Apollo
This 180 × 270 cm work offers a contemporary interpretation hand painted from the missing masterpiece. It should not be confused with Klimt's original nor with the digital recoloring of Belvedere and Google Arts.
The monumental format takes up the vertical momentum, the density of the human current and the presence of Hygieia. The approach assumes an artistic reconstruction: where history leaves unknown colors, the painter composes a coherent solution rather than claiming to possess a documentary truth.
Four Klimts to extend the reading
These active reproductions in the store allow you to compare the themes of the cycle of life, the frontal gaze, the allegorical nude and ornament.
Another large group of bodies facing active and distinct death.
See table →
Childhood, motherhood and old age united in a tighter allegory.
See table →
The naked truth and its mirror prepare Klimt's confrontation with the official public.
See table →
A frontal figure whose seduction, gold and latent violence respond to Hygieia.
See table →Exploring Klimt, allegories and Vienna 1900
These links were checked in the store on July 27, 2026. The numbers correspond to active products at the time of verification.
Portraits, landscapes, allegories and large settings.
Explore →17 WORKSAllegories and mythologyIdeas embodied by bodies, goddesses and signs.
Explore →218 WORKSViennese secessionArtistic reform around Klimt and Vienna 1900.
Explore →947 WORKSSymbolismDestiny, dream, death, myth and interiority.
Explore →21 WORKSGolden periodCompare Hygieia's golds to the masterpieces that follow.
Explore →320 WORKSNude paintingsFrom the academic nude to the modern and controversial body.
Explore →What can be verified
Modern composition, controversy, drawings, destruction and reconstructions are based on university and museum records.
Order, description, scandal, destruction and reconstruction of facade since 2024.
View →CATALOG RAISONNÉAlbertina · MedicineMore than 200 drawings, iconography of Hygieia, serpent, Lethe and current of life.
View →CONTROVERSYUniversity of ViennaPetition from the 87 professors, public debate, rupture of 1905 and reconstituted ceiling.
View →COLORSGoogle Arts & CultureRecoloring method, training corpus and role of historical expertise.
View →RECONSTRUCTIONBelvedere · Pigment & PixelPresentation of signs and warning: the color offered remains approximate.
View →IMMENDORFMAK ViennaInventory of Klimt's works destroyed at Immendorf Castle in 1945.
View →Twelve answers out of Medicine and Hygia
Does Klimt Medicine still exist?
No. The monumental painting was destroyed in the fire at Immendorf Castle on May 8, 1945. Black and white photographs, drawings, descriptions and colorful detail of Hygieia remain.
Is Hygieia an independent painting?
No. Hygie's famous image is a detail of the lower part of Medicine. Its standalone distribution may give the impression of a separate canvas, but it belonged to the large university panel.
When did Klimt paint Medicine?
The order dates back to 1894. A first version was presented in 1901 and Klimt continued the transformations until the final state exhibited in 1907.
How big was the painting?
The sources of Belvedere and Google Arts give approximately 430 × 300 cm. The format corresponded to a panel intended for the ceiling of the great hall of the University of Vienna.
Who is Hygie?
Hygia is a Greek goddess of health, daughter of Asclepius. Klimt depicts her with the medical serpent and a cup, richly dressed in red and gold.
What does the snake around his arm mean?
It refers to Asclepius and medical tradition. In Klimt's image, the snake drinks from the cup held by Hygieia, concentrating the main attributes of healing.
Why did the painting shock doctors?
He does not present medicine as a victorious power. The human current is subject to birth, suffering, aging and death, while Hygieia does not seem to intervene on any body.
Did the 87 professors protest especially against Medicine?
The petition of the 87 teachers was born in 1900 around Philosophy and the whole project. The presentation of Medicine in 1901 then intensified the affair until Parliament.
Why did Klimt abandon the order?
In 1905, after years of criticism and administrative control, he waived fees, repaid advances with the support of August and Serena Lederer and regained his freedom.
Are the colors of digital reconstruction certain?
No. Only Hygie's details are documented in color. The Belvedere and Google Arts & Culture version is an approximation based on texts, comparable works and an algorithm.
Where can we see a reconstruction in Vienna?
Black and white reproductions are installed on the ceiling of the great hall of the University of Vienna. Since November 2024, a large colorful version has also been visible on the facade of the Anna Spiegel building in MedUni Vienna.
Does the store reproduction copy a preserved original?
No. The sheet explicitly presents a work reimagined by Master Apollo. She interprets the lost painting and does not claim to be a documentary copy of the original colors.
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