Lot Essay
Inspired by Arnold Böcklin's (1827-1901) Ein Mörder, von Furien verfolgt (Murderer pursued by the Furies) (1870, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich), but with an even greater sense of excitement and drama, in 1891 Stuck painted his first version of the despair and remorse which pursue a criminal after his deed. The ancient Furies, the goddesses of vengeance, hide behind a rock as they lie in wait for the murderer, who has just killed his victim. The sight of these creatures with their repulsive, half-naked bodies and slimy snakes for hair is a foretaste of the torments awaiting the murderer. The figure of the murderer is derived from Max Klinger's (1857-1920) etching Verfolgung (Pursuit) (Radierte Skizzen, pl. 6, 1879), in which a man in a similar pose runs away on a narrow path.
In a later version of the same subject, (1896, Voss 139⁄284) Stuck takes Pierre-Paul Prud'hon’s (1758-1832) painting Justice and Divine Vengeance pursuing Crime, (1805-6, Getty Centre, Los Angeles) as his model. In the later treatment, the Furies fly through the air, representing the guilty conscience in flapping robes in pursuit of the murderer.
In a later version of the same subject, (1896, Voss 139⁄284) Stuck takes Pierre-Paul Prud'hon’s (1758-1832) painting Justice and Divine Vengeance pursuing Crime, (1805-6, Getty Centre, Los Angeles) as his model. In the later treatment, the Furies fly through the air, representing the guilty conscience in flapping robes in pursuit of the murderer.