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What the painting shows
Ancient Greece and Egypt by Klimt pairs two monumental female figures across an arcade arch. The works serve as architectural allegories of both civilizations, positioned in the spandrels and narrow wall spaces between columns.
On the left, ancient Greece appears as Pallas Athena. She wears a red robe and scale armor carrying the head of Medusa. Athena holds a spear in her left hand and a small Nike statuette in her right, with a round gold shield resting behind her shoulders. In the adjacent panel, the Girl from Tanagra stands in a stooped pose with a laurel branch, beside a marble parapet displaying an antique vase and a bronze statuette of Aphrodite removing her sandal.
On the right, ancient Egypt appears as the goddess Isis. She stands nude except for ornate jewelry, her left knee bent and hips swaying against a patterned red background. Isis extends an ankh toward Athena in her right hand while holding an angular metal object in her left. Further right, Klimt depicted Egyptian artifacts, including two painted wooden coffins of Titenese, a canopic chest, and ushabti figurines.
The story behind it
Painted between 1890 and 1891, the mural belongs to Klimt’s early works created for the museum building alongside scenes of Italian art. Because the imperial Egyptian collection was being transferred from the Lower Belvedere and remained inaccessible, Klimt relied on illustrated archaeology books by Auguste Mariette, Émile Prisse d’Avesnes, and Édouard Naville.
Art historians observe a sharp stylistic contrast across the arch. Athena reflects classical Historicism, while the nude Isis introduces the sensual human form that would define Klimt’s later modern paintings.
Where to see it
You can see the mural inside the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria. It is installed high on the north wall of the main staircase above the arches.
Questions about Ancient Greece and Egypt
When did Klimt paint Ancient Greece and Egypt?
Gustav Klimt painted Ancient Greece and Egypt between 1890 and 1891. He executed the mural as part of a larger decorative project for the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The commission included several spandrel and intercolumniation paintings in the grand staircase, completed before the museum officially opened to the public in late 1891.
Where is Ancient Greece and Egypt by Klimt?
Ancient Greece and Egypt by Klimt is located in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria. The painting occupies a spandrel and intercolumniation pair on the north wall of the museum staircase. Visitors can view the work from the grand stairway, where it remains fixed to the original architectural arches alongside other historical murals by Klimt.
