Gustav Klimt's ‘Medicine’ was intended as a faculty painting for the University of Vienna, but was withdrawn due to massive public criticism and later destroyed during the Nazi era. With the help of artificial intelligence, the painting was reconstructed and can now be seen as a detailed replica on the façade of the Anna Spiegel research building on the MedUni Vienna General Hospital campus.
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Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), one of the most important artists of Viennese Art Nouveau (Wiener Jugendstil), painted ‘Medicine’ in the years around 1900. This large canvas painting measuring around four by three metres, together with two other paintings, ‘Philosophy’ and ‘Jurisprudence’, was intended as a faculty painting for the ceiling of the ceremonial hall at the University of Vienna. Klimt had already received the commission for this in 1894 together with his fellow painter Franz Matsch from the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Education. Matsch painted the faculty painting ‘The Theology’ and the central centre painting ‘The Victory of Light’ for this commission.
Klimt's faculty paintings never reached their destination in their original form, however, as the work sparked fierce debate due to its depiction of nudes and outraged conservative politicians and representatives of the establishment when it was first presented to the public at the 10th Secession Exhibition in 1901. Klimt himself eventually withdrew from the commission and the three faculty paintings were sold privately.
History and destruction
When Klimt withdrew from the commission, he also had to repay the advances on his fee. The Jewish art collector couple August and Serena Lederer took over these debts and thus came into possession of ‘The Philosophy’.
Klimt's fellow artist Koloman Moser, who founded the Vienna Secession together with Klimt in 1897, acquired the other two faculty paintings ‘Medicine’ and ‘Jurisprudence’ between 1910 and 1912.
In 1919, the Moser family sold the two faculty paintings and ‘Medicine’ ended up in the Austrian Gallery with the help of generous patrons. ‘Jurisprudence’ was acquired by the Lederer family.
After the ‘Anschluss’ of Austria in 1938, the Lederer family was persecuted by the National Socialists due to their Jewish roots and their property was ‘aryanised’. For the duration of the war, the paintings were taken to Immendorf Castle in Lower Austria, which was used as an art depot.
On 8 May 1945, retreating SS units set fire to the castle so as not to leave any works of art behind for the approaching Soviet troops. The castle and the artworks stored there were completely burnt out. All three faculty paintings and numerous other works by Klimt, which were part of the Lederer collection, were destroyed.
The faculty painting ‘The Theology’ by Franz Matsch is still in the possession of the University of Vienna today. Of the three faculty paintings by Klimt, only a few sketches and black-and-white photographs of the originals still exist, as it was unfortunately not possible to take colour photographs of the paintings. Only one colour detail is known from the medicine faculty painting, namely the figure of Hygieia in red and gold.
The resurrection of the faculty paintings
In 2005, the faculty paintings found their original destination after all. In collaboration with the University of Vienna, the Leopold Museum realised the installation of black-and-white reproductions of Klimt's faculty paintings on the ceiling of the large ballroom at the University of Vienna. As part of the project, the only original faculty painting ‘The Theology’ by Franz Matsch was also restored.
Today, modern technology makes it possible to bring the lost works back to life digitally. In 2021, Google Arts & Culture launched a project in cooperation with the Belvedere in Vienna with the aim of using artificial intelligence to restore the original colours of Klimt's faculty paintings and give an impression of what the paintings might really have looked like. The project was based on an algorithm specially developed by IT expert Emil Wallner and on the art-historical advice of Franz Smola, curator of the Belvedere. The results are available on the extensive online platform "Klimt vs. Klimt".
On the initiative of the Medical University of Vienna, ‘The Medicine’ has been on display since November 2024 as a large-scale reconstruction on the façade of the newly extended Anna Spiegel research building on the MedUni Vienna General Hospital campus.
Picture description and interpretation
Klimt's ‘Medicine’ shows an asymmetrical composition in which the ‘stream of life’ can be seen on the right half of the picture, while the left half is flooded with a bright mist of light. The picture is characterised by an abundance of nudes. The motif of the only figure on the left, a young woman whose posture symbolises submission to illness and death, is striking. The depiction of a heavily pregnant naked woman was particularly novel and provocative for the time. A skeleton appears next to her, symbolising the threat of death to the nascent life.
The main motif of the painting is the suffering of mankind, yet it shows highly erotic depictions, such as a kneeling female figure with feminine curves, full hair and a lovely facial expression in the centre of the painting.
In the lower half of the picture appears the only figure who is directly facing the viewer: Hygieia. The goddess of Greek mythology is considered the daughter of Asclepius, the god of healing. She is also worshipped as a healing deity and is invoked at the beginning of the Hippocratic Oath. She is richly adorned and holds a bowl from which an Aesculapian snake, also a symbol of medicine, is drinking.
Excursus: A scandal that made art history
The large ceiling paintings in the ceremonial hall of the University of Vienna were already included in the plans of architect Heinrich von Ferstel, but could not be realised until the opening of the building in 1884 for cost reasons. It was not until ten years later that Gustav Klimt and Franz Matsch were commissioned by the Ministry of Education to create a central painting (Triumph of Light over Darkness) in the centre and four smaller paintings allegorically depicting the four faculties (Medicine, Philosophy, Theology and Jurisprudence) of the university. The two artists had previously worked together on commissions in other prominent buildings and enjoyed the trust of the ministry. The first designs from 1894 were also approved, although Klimt revised his pictures several times, as Klimt's style changed from historicism to symbolism during this time. The new style no longer corresponded to the client's understanding of art and moral standards, which is why Klimt's designs were rejected by the Ministry's art commission and the university's art commission when they were presented in 1898. Matsch's works, on the other hand, were judged favourably.
Klimt's presentation of the faculty painting ‘The Philosophy’ at the Secession's 7th exhibition in 1900 was met with fierce public criticism and several professors at the University of Vienna signed a petition against the installation of the paintings.
The first presentation of the faculty painting ‘Medicine’ at the 10th Secession exhibition in 1901 caused an even greater scandal. This time, numerous politicians also intervened. Conservative representatives criticised the Minister of Education for his support of Klimt and a question was raised in the House of Representatives.
The seemingly endless streams of people in the faculty paintings illustrate the feeling of humanity's exposure to a seemingly uncontrollable world. They interpret humanity as a will-less tool of dark forces and thus express a general pessimism. Klimt also depicted naked figures with provocative candour and did not shy away from depictions of old people or heavily pregnant women. He thematised eroticism and sexuality with a clarity that no one in Vienna had dared to do before him.
In addition to the obvious depiction of nudes, which shocked the public, the artistic realisation of medicine had a humiliating effect on many university professors, as it did not depict medicine as a healing power, but rather emphasised powerlessness in the face of fate, old age and illness.
In 1903, the last of the three commissioned works for the University of Vienna, the Allegory of Jurisprudence, was presented to the public in the Künstlerhaus. Once again, the depiction caused public offence and the clients were shocked by the ugliness and nudity of the figures.
In the same year, the faculty paintings were shown together for the first time. The university's Artistic Commission objected not only to Klimt's paintings, but also to the fact that the paintings by the two artists Klimt and Matsch did not match.
In 1905, only the installation of Matsch's large centre painting was finally approved. Klimt then announced that he was cancelling the entire commission and waiving his fee. He also criticised the state's support of art and interference in artistic freedom. Gustav Klimt did not accept any more public commissions after this.