Allegory of Sacred Music (Female Organ Player) – Works – Sammlung Online

Advanced Search

The image shows a woman seated at a piano, with her attention focused on the instrument. Behind her, a second figure is depicted, floating in a graceful pose. This figure is draped in a flowing fabric. The background is partially abstract, containing rough shapes that resemble either figures or geometric forms.

[AI-generated with ChatGPT]

Favorite
Share
Permalinkhttps://sammlungtest.belvedere.at/objects/471/allegorie-der-kirchlichen-musik-entwurf
IIIF
Expand

Allegory of Sacred Music (Female Organ Player)
Date1884

Künstler*in Gustav Klimt (1862 Wien – 1918 Wien)

ULAN

Object typeGemälde
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
38,5 x 50 cm
SignatureUnbezeichnet
Inventory number1459
Locations Derzeit nicht ausgestellt
A female organist, dressed in a luxurious blue silk robe, kneels before her instrument. The figure is accompanied by a cittern-playing angel hovering just above her head, as well as a pair of singing cherubs. This sketch was made in preparation for a ceiling fresco for the Municipal Theater in Fiume (Rijeka), which was to be executed the following year by the studio of the Klimt brothers and Franz Matsch. The proposed theme was a cycle of allegories on the various genres of music. Klimt’s design is an allegory of sacred music. The figure’s kneeling posture symbolizes the sanctified aspect and transforms the organ into an altar. The musician’s transfigured gaze toward the heavens is also indicative of this.

Inventory access
Exhibitions

1912 Ankauf Galerie Miethke, Wien

Contact Provenance Research

Exhibitions of the Belvedere