Nuda Veritas
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Nuda Veritas[1][2] (1899, Naked Truth) is a painting by Gustav Klimt, featuring a frontal view of a naked woman. In her hand she holds the mirror of truth. It features an inscription by Friedrich Schiller: "Kannst Du nicht allen gefallen durch Deine Tat und Dein Kunstwerk, mach es wenigen recht, vielen gefallen ist schlimm" (English: "If your deed and your art cannot please everyone, do it as well as you can; pleasing everyone is bad.". Nuda Veritas is Latin for truth in nakedness. The painting shocked the contemporary Viennese bourgeoisie because of its depiction of pubic hair. It is currently at the Österreichisches Theatermuseum.
It was exhibited at the fourth exhibition of the Vienna Secession in March 1899.
The 'Nuda Veritas' drawing had been published previously in Ver Sacrum[3] in 1898. It had a different inscription "Wahrheit ist feuer und wahrheit reden heisst levchten und brennen." (Leopold Schefer) (Truth is fire and to speak the truth is to shine and burn).
See also
- Veritas
- Frontal nudity
- The Naked Truth
- La Vérité (1870, "Truth") by Jules Joseph Lefebvre