The ashamed huddled Lucifer may symbolize precisely the opposite of the powerful Guardian of Paradise with his proud pose.ĥ. The monumental figure, who sits with his legs pressed together and his hand cupping his chin, was undoubtedly inspired by Rodin’s Thinker, made around 1880. The two phosphorous-blue rays of light on the left reference the spark of hope of a life that still glimmers in this otherwise dreary hell. Lucifer, the fallen angel who embodies the pathos of hatred, glares at the viewer with bright green, vengeful eyes. King Ferdinand of Bulgaria was so impressed by this work that he bought it for his palace in 1891, and the painting today is at the National Gallery in Sofia, Bulgaria.Īs a characteristic of Franz von Stuck’s art, this is not a traditional ecclesiastical devil with horns. Lucifer (1890) Lucifer by Franz von Stuck, 1890, via FlickrĪ year after Stuck’s successful debut with the Guardian of Paradise, he exhibited his Lucifer in 1890. Still, he has been transformed into the ideal of an androgynous youth, the perfect embodiment of the angel raised above humanity.Ĥ. The model may have been painted naturalistically. The transparency of the guardian’s garment and the radiant halo around his head has the exact unreal, symbolic nature. Stuck shows Paradise sparkling with pink, light blue, and yellow. The impasto, enamel-like explosions of paint behind the fiery sword are a reference to the sensory splendor of Paradise. It shows how Franz von Stuck’s art comes closer to Arnold Böcklin and Max Klinger, considered “painters of the soul and the mind,” the English Pre-Raphaelites, and the French Symbolists. It did not belong to the traditional current of historical painting or the popular peasant genre. The Guardian of Paradise caused a stir because of its unusual technique and the new approach it took to the subject. The work, a foundation for his mature art, was exhibited in 1889 at the first Münchener Jahresausstellung (Munich Annual Exhibition). The Guardian of Paradise is essential in Franz von Stuck’s art as a marker of his breakthrough into the Munich artistic circles. Guardian of Paradise (1889) Guardian of Paradise by Franz von Stuck, 1889, via Villa Stuck Perhaps because of this fixation on the muscled nude, the clergy of a Berlin church refused the Crucifixion of 1892 when a wealthy patron offered to donate it to them.ģ. Stuck studied the distinctive poses of the human form in numerous preparatory sketches and studies of the live model. His position of resignation differs sharply from the tormented poses of the thieves beside him, which is reinforced in the 1892 version by the mocking crowd in the background.Īnother striking antithesis is that between the dress of the onlookers, built up with grand, stylized forms, and the detailed nude bodies of Christ and the thieves. Christ has just died and hangs on the cross in a bright, supernatural light. Stuck’s representations of the Crucifixion, both the painting of 1892 and the later variant, contain dramatic color contrasts. Crucifixion (1892) Crucifixion by Franz von Stuck, 1892, via FlickrĪs seen in the Pietà, the Christian themes of suffering, passion, and emotions greatly influenced Franz von Stuck’s art, highlighting the human elements of religious drama. As such, it has been described by art historians as a Symbolist self-portrait.Ģ. Christ’s body bears the artists’ features. The muscle of his left arm is still tensed, the hand convulsed, bringing to mind the nails of the cross and Christ’s Passion. Christ has no halo, being depicted merely as a dead man in the tradition of Hans Holbein. A sharply delineated halo surrounds her head in the form of a ring intersected by the upper canvas edge. Both Jesus and Mary are rendered in profile, Mary in a strictly vertical position, head inclined slightly forward, face in hands.
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