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What the painting shows
Roman and Venetian Quattrocento by Klimt fills a pair of spandrels and narrow wall spaces between columns. On the left, Roman Quattrocento appears as a woman representing Ecclesia and the Roman papacy. She wears a halo and a dark pluvial embroidered with narrative scenes, holding a papal tiara while a processional cross rests against her shoulder. Her mantle extends with a red hem toward an adjacent baptismal font sculpted with bound men. Behind her, a tondo features a blue center and the word Pontifex.
On the right, Venetian Quattrocento presents a Doge in profile, looking slightly downward. He wears a gold-colored brocade coat fastened with round buttons, known as campanoni d’oro, over which sits the traditional corno ducale headwear and a white coif. Behind him, a haloed Lion of Saint Mark holds a book inscribed with the Latin phrase PAX TIBI MARCE EVANGELISTA MEUS. Klimt painted the entire scheme in ocher, brown tones, and dominant gold against symmetrical Renaissance architectural framing.
The story behind it
Klimt produced these early works between 1890 and 1891 as part of a larger decorative cycle inside the museum. His historical allegories include other spandrel paintings on the staircase walls, such as Greek Antiquity and Egypt.
In this composition, the two central figures stand back to one another before round medallions and egg-and-dart moldings. Art historians interpret their turned backs as a reference to the historical rivalry between Rome and Venice during the fifteenth century. The gold spread across both scenes symbolizes spiritual and secular authority. Klimt based his figures on specific historical models, designing the Doge after Giovanni Bellini’s portrait of Leonardo Loredan and drawing Ecclesia’s facial features from his own 1890 canvas Two Girls with Oleander.
Where to see it
You can see Roman and Venetian Quattrocento inside the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The work remains in its original architectural setting, painted directly on the plaster spandrels and intercolumniations along the left side of the north staircase wall.
Questions about Roman and Venetian Quattrocento
What does Roman and Venetian Quattrocento by Klimt show?
Roman and Venetian Quattrocento by Klimt shows personifications of fifteenth-century Rome and Venice standing back to back. Rome is portrayed as Ecclesia holding a papal tiara and processional cross beside a baptismal font. Venice is represented as a Doge in a gold brocade coat alongside the winged Lion of Saint Mark. Both figures stand before classical tondos surrounded by gold and ocher architectural molding.
Where is Roman and Venetian Quattrocento by Klimt?
Roman and Venetian Quattrocento by Klimt is located in Vienna at the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Klimt painted the work in oil directly onto the plaster spandrels and wall sections between columns on the north wall of the grand staircase. Visitors to the museum can view the original mural high above the main stairs alongside Klimt's other early architectural commissions.
