Innocence

Franz Von Stuck was an influential German Symbolist/Art Nouveau painter, sculptor, engraver, and architect born at Tettenweis near Griesbach in Lower Bavaria, Germany, the son of a miller. He was noted for his treatment of erotic and comic aspects of mythological themes. Awarded the gold medal at the Annual Exhibition at the Munich Glass Palace in 1889, Von Stuck devoted himself entirely to painting, becoming a portraitist who was much in demand. His sitters' regal poses elevate them above the mundane, making them sublime and timeless. In addition to some early landscapes and numerous portraits, the painter's oeuvre is notable primarily for mythological and symbolic themes.