in 1891 when the Ministers of Bulgaria's Prince Ferdinand first laid eyes on the prince's latest art acquisition they were so terrified that they made the sign of the cross before it and it is said that it became a tradition to do so every time they saw this painting in today's video I will present one of the most terrifying works I have ever come across and not because it has a shocking scene depicted in the painting but rather because of the subtle and penetrating silhouette of a man sitting in the darkness let me tell you in advance that this curious human silhouette is Lucifer the fallen angel from the Bible which makes it even more intriguing without further Ado let's begin with a deeper analysis of this work and discover why everyone who faced it blessed themselves let's let's get [Music] started France fuk is remembered today as one of the most notable German artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries his artistic career began after moving to Munich at the age of 15 where he enrolled in the academy in 1881 in the late 1880s France fonu began to move towards symbolism with guardian of paradise a work he presented at the annual exhibition of the Munich glass Palace in 1889 for him it was the confirmation of his art he won the gold medal and a large sum of money in addition to attracting the attention of many critics guardian of paradise marked a break with the art favored by the academy and the popular peasant genre of France Von defer with this painting Stu approached the sole imagery seen in the works of Arnold buckin and Max Clinger or the tradition of the English pre riits in 1895 sturk became a professor at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts as a teacher he trained and shaped future avangard artists such as Paul CLE and wasili Kandinsky a year later he commissioned the construction of villa stuk demonstrating his skills in design sculpture interior decoration and architecture The Villa is laid with symbolism and works by the artist including reliefs of divine processions leading to the studio World War II had a great impact on the house destroying many works of art France fook's works from the last decade of the 19th century belonged to the symbolist movement and its interests in the inner self a common theme for Stu and symbolism in general was the fem fatal the dangerous woman among these symbolist paintings are Lucifer and and the sin the latter being one of the most emblematic paintings of German symbolism after the end of the Great War and the chaos it caused the symbolist themes of the founda sea seemed largely irrelevant to the art World France vonu who had come to be a prince of German art according to the funeral speech became increasingly isolated towards the end of his life and was almost forgotten after his death on August 30th 1928 dying in relative obscur I would like to remind you that this painting and many other historical paintings that I have personally selected are available on our website in our catalog you can find over 250 historical paintings in different styles such as Canvas OR Fine Art print I have personally ensured that the quality is as faithful to the original work as possible so if you're an art lover this is your chance to own a very high quality art reproduction shipping is free worldwide so don't forget to visit the catalog after watching this video and place your order thank you very much to everyone who has trusted and supported this project now let's continue in the history of 20th century art Stu's work was not evaluated at its true value and was unjustly dismissed as a legacy of a bygone era only with the reopening of villa stook in 1986 was there a Revival of interest in Stu's life and art the same house that I mentioned earlier which he himself designed mind and which has curiously become a museum in the city of Munich Germany nevertheless at that time opinions among art historians still differed regarding the nature of his achievement his symbolic themes were in fact a cover for representing passionate love or the battles between the Sexes themes that remain relevant to this day now that we know the context of this artist let's analyze the painting that brings us together in this video which many people consider the darkest and most terrifying work of his over this painting entitled Lucifer was painted in 1890 by France Stu it shows a seated man in a dark space with his legs pressed together the man is naked and gazes intensely at the viewer while supporting his head with his left hand what is he thinking about or is he plotting something the pose is reminiscent of The Thinker by Augusta Rodan and while Rodan created his first version of this famous statue a decade earlier it is doubtful that stuck would have been familiar with it as it only received public recognition later on the man's right arm is turned backwards in an unnatural position and it is not immediately clear what he is touching however as this is Lucifer the name used for the Devil the angel fallen from Heaven it would be easy to assume that the man is touching one of his Wings located on his right side this all becomes much clearer in this etching of the same work by Fran stook now we can clearly see the outlines of the large Wings here is the wing he seems to be touching and this is the wing on the other side and we can also see the outline of the top of this Wing in the painting the wings are generally more visible in this Preparatory study by stuck showing the Dark Wings the etching still has those intense eyes of Lucifer looking at us and it appears that he is Seated on some kind of bench knowing that this is the devil we can imagine that he is plotting his revenge for being kicked out of heaven the original painting is relatively large measuring 161x 152 CM or 63x 60 in in the background of the painting is a fluorescent light source in the shape of a crescent moon it's not really clear what this light source is and the etching doesn't help either as it emits this light source altogether is it a real moon Lucifer has fallen from heaven so it could represent some light from his former home I would love to hear what you think it might mean in the comments section researching the whereabouts of this work I found that Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria the former owner of Lucifer once told Von stook that the painter had terrified his entire cabinet they were so frightened by the sight of this painting hanging on the wall that they felt compelled to make the sign of the cross whenever they saw it a story vonu repeated with delight it is presumed what makes Lucifer stick in your mind is not a mere reproduction of the glamour of evil but rather the sense of loss in those striking glowing green eyes the Envy of the heaven he fell from fueling the fires of the hell in which he must now dwell thank you very much for making it to the end of this video please let me know in the comments what you think about this painting and if you believe it is scary enough to make you feel the need to make the sign of the cross when you see it don't forget to leave a like if you found this video interesting and subscribe so you don't miss the next one see you soon bye [Music]