Faculties Paintings
In 1894, the University of Vienna ordered three ceilings from Gustav Klimt for its Great Hall. What he will deliver - Philosophy, Medicine, Case law - will trigger one of the biggest scandals in art history: 87 angry professors, a prosecutor, a debate in Parliament. Klimt returned the money, threatened the staff with a rifle, and the paintings ended in ashes in 1945.
Three paintings, a scandal, a fire
The University of Vienna commissioned three allegorical ceilings from Klimt in 1894. He delivers dark, carnal, pessimistic visions - a denial of everything the institution expected. Philosophy shows a "viscous void", Medicine let Hygieia turn her back on humanity, Case law hugging a condemned man in the tentacles of an octopus. The outcry is general. Klimt ends up returning the money and keeping his paintings.
In May 1945, the retreating SS burned down Immendorf Castle where they were housed. All three works are destroyed - or at least that's what we believe. All that remains are black and white photographs and preparatory sketches. In 2021, Google and the Leopold Museum reconstructed them in color using artificial intelligence.
A very classic official order
In 1894, the Austrian Ministry of Education commissioned Gustav Klimt and Franz Matsch to decorate the ceiling of the Great Hall of the University of Vienna. The expected theme is reassuring: the four Faculties (Philosophy, Medicine, Law, Theology), painted in the academic spirit, celebrating the triumph of light over darkness, of reason over obscurantism.
Matsch paints Theology - conformist, without fuss. Klimt is entrusted with the other three. For six years, he worked in silence. When he reveals Philosophy in March 1900, at VIIe viennese Secession exhibition, the shock is immediate. What the professors discover has nothing to do with the order.
"A viscous void" instead of light
The order called for "the triumph of light over darkness". Klimt delivers something else: a dreamlike mass of humanity, floating in an indefinite space, without beginning or end. "On the left, a group of figures, the beginning of life, fruitfulness, decomposition. On the right, the globe as mystery. On the right, the globe as mystery. Below, emerging, a figure of light: knowledge."
Critics cry pessimism, the absence of rationalism. The painting celebrates neither philosophy nor progress: it shows humanity drifting in a trance, lost in a "viscous void". Paradox: the work receives a gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris, but is reviled in Vienna.
"A slimy vacuum."Viennese review of Philosophy (1900)
Hygieia turns its back on humanity
The scandal reached its peak with Medicine. On the right, a column of naked bodies - the "river of life" - crosses the canvas. A skeleton floats there: death in the river of life. Below, Hygieia, goddess of health, stands, the serpent of Asclepius around her arm, the cup of Lethe in her hand. She turns her back on humanity.
The reaction is violent. THE Medizinische Wochenschrift publishes a furious editorial: Klimt ignored the two great achievements of medicine - prevention and cure. Nothing in this painting celebrates science. Worse: it suggests that medicine is powerless in the face of death. For faculty professors, this is an insult.
The octopus, the Erinyes and the condemned
The third canvas is the darkest. A condemned man, naked, is surrounded by three Erinyes (the goddesses of vengeance) and a sea monster whose tentacles embrace him - a deadly octopus. Basically, the three goddesses of Truth, Justice and the Dormouse attend, impassive.
Criticism will speak of a "psycho-sexual" dimension. No triumphant justice, no solar law: the painting shows a judicial system that crushes the individual. For a University of Law, this is unsustainable.
The image opposite is a color reconstruction produced in 2021 by Google Arts & Culture and the Leopold Museum in Vienna, based on black and white photographs and preparatory sketches, using deep learning.
"I've had enough of censorship"
The institutional reaction is massive. 87 professors sign a petition against the paintings. A prosecutor is called. The case goes back to the Austrian Parliament - a first for a cultural debate. The Minister of Education is the only one to defend Klimt. When the Academy of Fine Arts elected him professor in 1901, the government refused to ratify. He will never receive a teaching position.
In 1905, Klimt had had enough. He resigned from the order, wanted to keep his paintings. The ministry insists: they belong to the state. Klimt threatens the staff who came to collect them from one shotgun. He returned his advance of 30,000 crowns - financed by his patron August Lederer - and preserved his works.
"I've had enough of censorship... I refuse any state support, I don't want it."Gustav Klimt, after the scandal
Ceiling order from the University of Vienna.
Philosophy on display: gold medal in Paris, scandal in Vienna.
Medicine: 87 teachers protest, the prosecutor is contacted.
Klimt resigns, threatens staff with gun, returns money.
Schloss Immendorf: The SS Fire
After the break, the canvases change hands. Philosophy is purchased by August Lederer. Medicine and Case law were bought by Koloman Moser in 1911. Medicine ends up in a Jewish family; in 1938, the Nazis seized her. In 1943, after a final exhibition, the three paintings were transferred to Immendorf Castle, in Lower Austria, to protect them from bombing.
In May 1945, the retreating SS set fire to the castle to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. The castle is totally destroyed. The three Paintings of the Faculties - which measured more than 4 meters high - are considered destroyed.
Art historian Tina Marie Storkovich, however, stressed that no formal proof of their destruction exists: the castle burned, but the paintings were never found among the rubble. The mystery remains open.
From ordering to reconstitution
The University of Vienna orders the ceilings.
Philosophy, Medicine, Jurisprudence: scandal.
Klimt resigns, keeps his works, rifle in hand.
Immendorf fire by the SS. The paintings disappear.
Google and the Leopold Museum: the colors found
In 2021, Google Arts & Culture and the Leopold Museum in Vienna used the deep learning to reconstruct the probable colors of the three canvases, from B&W photos, sketches and other works by Klimt. The result - impressive but conjectural - was retouched by experts of the painter.
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See allPaintings from the Faculties of Klimt
What were the Paintings of the Faculties of Klimt?
Three allegorical paintings - Philosophy, Medicine, Case law - commissioned in 1894 for the ceiling of the Great Hall of the University of Vienna. They were never exhibited in the University and were destroyed in 1945.
Why did they cause a scandal?
Because they contradicted everything the University expected: celebration of reason, science, law. Instead, Klimt painted pessimism, death, suffering and sexuality. 87 professors signed a petition. The affair went all the way to Parliament.
How did Klimt react to the scandal?
In 1905, he resigned from the order, wanted to keep his paintings, threatened the personnel who had come to collect them with a hunting rifle, and returned his advance of 30,000 crowns. He declares: "I have had enough of censorship." He will never work for the state again.
Do the paintings still exist?
No. They are considered destroyed in May 1945, when the retreating SS burned down Immendorf Castle where they were housed. However, no formal evidence of their destruction was found among the rubble.
Can we see the paintings today?
Only black and white photographs, preparatory sketches and, since 2021, color reconstructions using artificial intelligence remain (Google/Leopold Museum). No hand-painted reproduction is possible, the original being lost.
What is the 2021 reenactment?
Google Arts & Culture and the Leopold Museum in Vienna used deep learning to guess the likely colors of the three canvases from B&W photos and other works by Klimt. The result is impressive but conjectural.
Why did Klimt paint Hygieia with his back turned?
In Medicine, Hygieia (goddess of health) turns her back on suffering humanity, holding Lethe's cup (forgetfulness). This gesture suggests that medicine is powerless in the face of death - an insult to the Faculty of Medicine.
Go to texts
- Wikipedia (en) - Faculty Paintings (Klimt), detailed accounts of the three paintings and the scandal.
- Wikipedia (en) - Gustav Klimt.
- Wikipedia (en) - Vienna Secession.
- Bitsori M, Galanakis E. "Doctors versus artists: Gustav Klimt's Medicine". BMJ, 2002.
- Gilles Néret. Klimt. Taschen, 1993.
- Wikimedia Commons - Medicine (photo B&W), CC BY-SA 3.0.
- Wikimedia Commons - Hygieia (detail), public domain.
Klimt's works are in the public domain. Black and white photographs come from Wikimedia Commons (PD or CC BY-SA). The color reconstruction comes from the Google/Leopold Museum project (2021). The facts are based on the dedicated Wikipedia article and the cited bibliography.
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