Altar of Dionysos

This scene is on the tympanum in the state staircase on the Volksgartan side.

The expanded segmental arch was filled by Gustav Klimt with a comparatively condensed composition centring on a temple staircase, which is seen in steep perspective from below. As is conveyed to us by its topmost coping, which is only just visible, the temple is imagined as a triptych-like structure along the lines of the Pergamon Altar. In the middle, there is the archaic head of the bearded god in gilt bronze; beside it, a small, grey figurine of a kouros presumably carved from stone. Flowers and ivy tendrils cascade down on either side of them.