Cardinal and Nun (Caress)

1912 · Leopold Museum, Vienna

other

Provocative pictorial content, like the violation of clerical moral codes in the scandalous embrace in Cardinal and Nun (Caress), is testament to Egon Schiele's impetuous urge for renewal in which he radically breaks with traditions even beyond formal issues of art. The couple's relationship to one another, enforced by its rigid structure of form, might one lead to believe that Schiele was paraphrasing Gustav Klimt's famous painting, The Kiss. The shocked expression on the nun's face bears a remarkable resemblance to Schiele's Self-Portrait with Raised Bare Shoulder of 1912.

Loading map…

About the Artist

Egon Schiele

1890 – 1918

Austrian painter, draughtsman and printmaker. He is, with Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980), one of the major figures of Austrian Expressionism, despite the brevity of his artistic career, which lasted only about ten years. While remaining faithful to the initial influences on his work of the Vienna Secession, and in particular of the art of Gustav Klimt, he developed a personal and expressive style. He introduced psychologically and sexually intense subject matter that was radical in its subjectivity and highly influential on later generations of artists. His distinctly personal style made him one of the most important representatives of early Viennese Expressionism. His oeuvre includes landscapes, portraits, and above all, nudes, which were considered scandalous in his day.

View all works →