Klimt's Medicine, the masterpiece destroyed in 1944, reconstructed digitally in Piacenza

On the occasion of the exhibition Klimt. TheMan , the Artist, His World, the event Klimt. The Reconstructed Work, a major digital reconstruction project through which one of Gustav Klimt ’s major works that has been lost forever is brought back to life: The Medicine, an extremely controversial work painted by the artist in the early 1900s and commissioned from among the allegories designed for the ceiling of the Great Hall of theUniversity of Vienna.

Medicine is one of three paintings that Klimt executed on commission from the University of Vienna ( Medicine, Philosophy and Law), which were later rejected by the university because they were deemed too critical of science (Medicine was the one that caused the most scandal, due to the copious presence of nudes). Rejected, they were returned to Klimt (the state wanted instead to transfer them to the Moderne Galerie in Vienna), who sold them to several buyers. They were then all seized by the Nazis in 1938, and during the war, in 1944, the three works were shipped to Immendorf Castle, near the Austrian capital: they were lost in the burning of the fortress during a war action.

The Piacenza event is part of the wide-ranging debate on the “reproducibility” of works, the relationship between art and new technologies, the originality and authenticity of the work of art, and the role of museums as places of transmission of cultural heritage. The objective of the exhibition is to show how the most advanced digital techniques allow us to come ever closer to the faithful reproduction of a work made in traditional media (drawing, oil, tempera, marble, bronze, and others), through scanning, photo-retouching, and printing technologies that are unprecedented and, although still at the dawn of development, allow for impressive results.

Klimt. The reconstructed work is part of the project The Mystery of the Lost Masterpieces, the Sky Arte series produced by Ballandi that tells the story of seven famous paintings - created between the 17th century and the 1950s - tragically lost to this day and follows their exciting re-materialization process thanks to the latest technologies curated by Factum Arte, the organization founded by Adam Lowe in Madrid and committed to the enhancement of the world’s artistic heritage.

The event is part of the City of Piacenza’s activities to promote the Laboratorio Aperto Piacenza Territorio Snodo - Por Fesr Emilia Romagna 2014-2020 - ASSE 6 Action 6.7.2 Promotion, is organized by Art Projects with the collaboration of Arthemisia, Factum Arte, Ballandi and Sky Arte.

Pictured: Factum Arte, Medicine (from Gustav Klimt, 1899-1907), 2017, cm. 430x300 (detail)

Klimt's Medicine, the masterpiece destroyed in 1944, reconstructed digitally in Piacenza

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