“Hygeia” – Gustav Klimt

 Hygeia, Detail from "Medicine,"
1907, Oil on canvas, 430 x 300 cm
Destroyed by fire at Immendorf Palace, 1945

Painted by Klimt as one of three figures in a mural for the Great Hall of Vienna’s University, this figure depicts the image of Hygeia, the goddess of health--an allegory for Medicine. 

Critics and public alike damned Klimt for the figures’ lewdness.

In response, he painted the humorous “Goldfish” (pictured here) originally titled “An Answer to My Critics.”

I think you can see why.

Sadly, Hygeia was destroyed in 1945, so only poor copies now exist. And this figure, once damned, is now used on the cover of the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra’s programme for their current Splendour in Vienna series.

How ‘bout that.