The motif of the knight is frequently used in medieval art; it has made a surprising comeback in the 19th century through artists, such as the Pre-Raphaelites or the Viennese artists at the end of the 19th and the beg...The motif of the knight is frequently used in medieval art; it has made a surprising comeback in the 19th century through artists, such as the Pre-Raphaelites or the Viennese artists at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Gustav Klimt interprets this motif in a very personal manner, which throws a totally different light on the status of the knight than traditional interpretations. The aim of this paper is to indicate and analyze the very features that make Klimt＇s knight different from that established through the historic, literary, and artistic canons and reveal it as closer to Nietzsche＇s modern man--afflicted by the malady that the philosopher diagnoses and whose symptoms he describes as follows： A weakened personality, and the absence of a strong will, associated with the specific age and culture.展开更多
文摘The motif of the knight is frequently used in medieval art; it has made a surprising comeback in the 19th century through artists, such as the Pre-Raphaelites or the Viennese artists at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Gustav Klimt interprets this motif in a very personal manner, which throws a totally different light on the status of the knight than traditional interpretations. The aim of this paper is to indicate and analyze the very features that make Klimt＇s knight different from that established through the historic, literary, and artistic canons and reveal it as closer to Nietzsche＇s modern man--afflicted by the malady that the philosopher diagnoses and whose symptoms he describes as follows： A weakened personality, and the absence of a strong will, associated with the specific age and culture.
