12 Paintings, scenes from the Bible, by The Old Masters, with footnotes # 30

Egon Schiele’s painting Cardinal and Nun of 1912 is a paraphrase of Gustav Klimt’s Kiss, which had been created five years prior.Everything about Klimt’s painting that was positive, however, is transformed here into its darker manifestation:the gold background is turned black, the gentle embrace has given way the violent clutching of the two delicate, praying hands, and the sensual expression on the face of Klimt’s woman has become a nun’s distraught glance.Schiele called the painting of this strange embrace Liebkosung, or “The Caress”. More

Egon Schiele, (June 12, 1890 – October 31, 1918)
Cardinal And Nun (Caress), c. 1912
Oil, canvas
Height: 700 mm (27.56 in). Width: 805 mm (31.69 in).
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria

Egon Schiele (German: 12 June 1890 – 31 October 1918) was an Austrian painter. A protégé of Gustav Klimt, Schiele was a major figurative painter of the early 20th century. His work is noted for its intensity and its raw sexuality, and the many self-portraits the artist produced, including naked self-portraits. The twisted body shapes and the expressive line that characterize Schiele’s paintings and drawings mark the artist as an early exponent of Expressionism. More

12 Paintings, scenes from the Bible, by The Old Masters, with footnotes # 30