Reproduction hand painted of the painting
The Kiss of the Sphinx (Stuck)

“The Kiss of the Sphinx” by Franz von Stuck is a terrifying and sublime allegory of the femme fatale and destructive passion. On a dark rock, a kneeling naked man lets himself be carried away by the deadly kiss of a sphinx. The mythological creature, with the body of a black lioness and the bust of a spectrally white woman, embraces him in a passionate and fierce hold. The contrast between the woman’s luminous flesh and the man’s overwhelming darkness creates a dramatic chiaroscuro. In the background, a brilliant blood-red sky reinforces the apocalyptic atmosphere of the scene. This major canvas of the symbolist movement brilliantly explores the life and death drives inherent in the human condition.