Josef Lewinsky nel ruolo di Carlos in Clavigo

The Viennese society that published fine art prints commissioned this in 1895 for a volume on the city's theatres, and the other contributors delivered what was expected, sober grey portraits in a historical manner. Klimt handed in a black stage. The actor Josef Lewinsky stands in it as Carlos from Goethe's Clavigo, a role he was playing at 60 after more than 30 years at the Burgtheater, with only his face and his collar taking any light. Down the strips at either side Klimt put golden vines on silver, a laughing young woman holding a tragic mask, and above her Dionysus rising out of the smoke of a tripod. He laid brass leaf under the oil glazes to get that depth. Two years later he and his friends walked out of the artists' association to found the Secession. The state bought the picture in 1902, and in 1903 it went into Vienna's new Modern Gallery.