The Stories Behind Klimt's Faculty Paintings

For the faculty painting "Philosophy," Klimt chose a strikingly asymmetrical composition. On the left, he shows the plethora of humanity in the form of a chain of nudes, and on the right, he presents an almost empty sky in which the figure of a giant sphinx only just appears.

Humanity is portrayed using individual types of human of different ages and genders. Depictions of a young couple together with a small child prominently appear in the upper half of the picture. Above all, the woman shown in profile looks strikingly sensual and erotic.

Still, in addition to young and attractive people, Klimt does not hesitate to portray unsightly and aging bodies. In the lower part of the flow of people, for example, a nude of an old man hiding his face in his hands is prominent.

At the bottom of the flow of people is the head of a woman wrapped in a dark veil which partially covers her face. With her magical-looking face and sparkling eyes, Klimt seems to translate this flash of inspiration into a visual representation of the sparks of the mind.

To represent philosophy, the actual theme of the faculty painting, Klimt selected the embodiment of a sphinx whose shadowy figure emerges from a cosmic fog. In ancient mythology, the sphinx was considered the keeper of unsolvable secrets and riddles.

Klimt also chooses an asymmetrical composition for the faculty painting "Medicine." This time, the flow of life appears in the right half of the picture, while the left half is flooded with a bright mist of light. In this picture as well, Klimt shows a wealth of nudes.

The nude of a young woman who is the only figure in the left half of the picture is particularly striking. With her head tilted to the side and arm outstretched, she assumes a pose symbolic of submission to illness and death.

The motif depicting a pregnant naked woman, which can be seen in the flow of life in the upper half of the picture, was a completely new concept for those times. In contrast, Death emerges next to her in the form of a skeleton to express the threat of developing life.

Despite the wealth of figures symbolizing the suffering of humanity, Klimt does not limit his use of highly erotic nudes. These include, for example, a crouching female figure who appears near the center of the picture with a soft, rounded body shape and full, thick hair.

The only figure who turns directly to the viewer is the figure of Hygieia in the lower half of the picture. She was worshipped in Greek mythology as the goddess of medicine. She holds a bowl from which an Aesculapian snake, another symbol of medicine, drinks.

For the faculty painting "Jurisprudence," Klimt opted for a slightly different composition. Unlike the previous faculty paintings, fewer people are featured here. They are also larger on the canvas and clearly separated from one another.

Klimt chose a court scene in which an old naked man appears as the accused before a tribunal. He guiltily turns to the tribunal. A huge octopus rises in front of him, holding the prisoner with its tentacles. These shackles symbolize the power of fate.

Behind the defendant, three expressive, female nudes appear. They symbolize the Erinyes, the avenging goddesses who hold humans to account for their shortcomings and crimes.

In the uppermost area of the picture, three female figures—the personifications of justice, law, and truth—appear in front of a decorated wall. The great distance between them and the accused evidently illustrates the shortcomings of court judgments and jurisdiction.

"… Wenn wir auch gerne zugeben wollen, daß Derjenige, welcher die verschiedenen Systeme auch nur der deutschen Philosophie gründlich studiert, in einen Zustand gelinden Wahnsinnes gerathen muß, hat doch nichts Herrn Klimt gezwungen, uns nun auch einen gemalten Wahnsinn zu versetzen ..." (…Although we do admit that anyone who thoroughly studies the various systems, even just German philosophy, must fall into a state of lunacy, Klimt has not been forced to bring us madness in painted form either…") "Montags-Zeitung", March 19, 1900.

Some time later in 1900, Klimt's "Philosophy" was also sent to the 1900 Paris World Expo where—unlike in Vienna—it achieved great recognition and even received a prize.

But why were the faculty paintings rejected so strongly? The main reason was Klimt's refusal to make the allegories serve as an idealized, affirmative interpretation of the sciences, as expected by the commissioners. Klimt did not create idealized images of reality.

The endless flows of people in the faculty paintings illustrate how people are exposed to a world that seems out of control. They interpret humanity as an involuntary tool of dark forces. This way, they express general pessimism.

In addition, Klimt showed naked human figures in provocative poses and never shied away from presenting old people or heavily pregnant women. He clearly made eroticism and sexuality the central themes, as no one in Vienna had ever dared to do before.