Holy, temptation, prayer and ideal wood · The sacred as an interior experience

Schiele imagines himself as a saint, Rops puts asceticism to the test, Puvis immobilizes the poor fisherman and Bernard returns to the Crucifixion: each work seeks a presence beyond realism.

Symbolism inherits Christian narratives, myths and esotericism, but it shifts the sacred to subjective experience. The saint can become a self-portrait, temptation reveals the conflicts of desire, and prayer is expressed through an almost empty landscape. Puvis de Chavannes simplifies forms and gestures until he obtains silent gravity; Émile Bernard rediscovers the frontality of the devotional image; Schiele engages his own body in a chosen posture. The sacred symbolist therefore does not impose a single doctrine: he makes the need for revelation sensitive. The sacred symbolist therefore does not impose a single doctrine: he makes the need for revelation sensitive. The sacred symbolist therefore does not impose a single doctrine: he makes the need for revelation sensitive. The sacred symbolist therefore does not impose a single doctrine: he makes the need for revelation sensitive. The sacred symbolist therefore does not impose a single doctrine: he makes the need for revelation sensitive. The sacred symbolist therefore does not impose a single doctrine: he makes the need for revelation sensitive. The sacred symbolist therefore does not impose a single doctrine: he makes the need for revelation sensitive. The sacred symbolist therefore does not impose a single doctrine: he makes the need for revelation sensitive. The sacred symbolist therefore does not impose a single doctrine: he makes the need for revelation sensitive. The sacred symbolist therefore does not impose a single doctrine: he makes the need for

In symbolism, the sacred often begins when the image ceases to illustrate certainty and gives way to inner experience.