“The Crucifixion” by Franz von Stuck

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The Crucifixion

Franz von Stuck

1892

“The Exhibition of 1892 brought to the front one of the most impressive works that the younger German school has produced — the "Crucifixion," by Stuck.” [continued below]

Text and formatting by George P. Landow.

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Though the careful avoidance of all resemblance to the traditional Church-treatment of the subject makes his picture very startling, or even repellent, it must nevertheless be conceded that its stupendous power and passion at once call up the sense of an event of supreme and universal interest. In this picture, was revealed for the first time all the gigantic power peculiar to Stuck's work, which makes him the most famous of our historical painters. The imperfections and ruggedness that mar the work cannot, blind us to that. Few men could have sketched these figures in such a powerful mould, or have given them such wonderful symbolic colouring.

Still, I could not at the time wholly enjoy the work. It had a magical attraction, and yet a vein of coarseness repelled me. But it remained so indelibly stamped on my memory that it followed tne everywhere, and I was only conscious of the deep impression it had made when I found that 1 could not forget it. — Schultze-Naumberg

Bibliography

Bisanz-Prakken, Marian. "Khnoppf, Toorop, Minne and the Symbolism of Gustav Klimt." Intermezzo: Gustav Klimt und Wien un 1900/Gustav Klimt and Vienna around 1900. Salzburg: Museum der Moderne Rupertinum, 2004.

Hofmann, Werner. Gustav Klimt. Greenwich, Connecticut: New York Graphic Society, 1974.

Schultze-Naumberg, Paul. “Franz Stuck.” The Magazine of Art [London] 20 (1896-97): 153-58. Internet Archive version of a copy in the University of Toronto Library. Web. 4 November 2014.

Last modified 4 November 2014