The ancient Greek goddess of wisdom glares powerfully out of Klimt's visionary fin de siecle masterpiece that mingles ancient mythology and modern psychology. In Klimt's Vienna, artists, writers and not least the doctor of dreams Sigmund Freud were fascinated by the power of the unconscious and the magnetism of sexuality. Athena here is not so much a divinity of reason as a primitive archetype of female authority and strength.
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