Athena1.0250

Gustav Klimt, "Pallas Athene", 1898, oil and gold on canvas, 75 x 75 cm, Vienna, Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien, inv. 100.686.

Athena is readily recognizable with her aegis (including gorgoneion), her helmet and spear. She extends in her right hand an overtly nude Nike. In the space behind her the goddess, a 6th-century vase painting of Heracles' wrestle with Triton, which Pallas observes, is depicted.

Klimt's narrative gain in the work is connected to its being shown originally in the salon of the Viennese Secessionists (1898), a group that sought to infuse new life — new spirit, passion, energy — into neoclassicism. Klimt's Palas Atthena has a stunning three-dimensionality that stands out against the old-school 2D background. Morford & Lenardon also observe (p. 183) the goddess' provocative demeanor, daring the viewer to challenger her defensive stance. This is Athena Parthenos but decidedly also Athena Promachos.