Beethoven Frieze: right wall (part 1)
by KLIMT, Gustav, Casein paints, stucco coverings, various materials, gold plating on mortar, 215 x 516 cm
The “Sehns�chte und W�nsche der Menschheit” (Longings and Desires of Mankind) return on the connecting right wall as a horizontal floating procession and move on until they are stopped by the lonely figure of “Poetry.
Here “the longing for happiness finds its end in poetry.” Klimt presents the figure of Poetry in a manner inspired by ancient examples. Klimt also draws on the repertoires of ancient, Egyptian, and archaic cultures in many other of the frieze’s motifs.