The present undated sketch, apparently a draft for a planned painting, shows eight crucified men in close proximity. Egon Schiele (1890–1918) at times addressed religious set pieces or motifs in his works. Paintings including
Caress (Cardinal and Nun), 1912, and
Shrines in the Forest (1915, Kunsthaus Zug, Stiftung Sammlung Kamm) illustrate his interest in this theme. The latter shows a horror vacui of small images of saints in front of monumental crosses as a place of worship in a forest. One of the artist’s early oil paintings, created in 1907, depicts a
Crucifixion with Darkened Sun, which almost certainly refers to Franz von Stuck’s 1906 painting (1863–1928)
On the Cross (Muzeum Narodowe, Poznan). What is certain is that Schiele adhered to more traditional manners of depiction for his
Crucifixion, though he would go on to deliberately subvert these in his later oeuvre. The work
Caress, especially, is testament to the artist’s exploration of human abysses, which he contrasted, and thus highlighted, with personifications of religious ideals.
AKe, 2023
