Platonic Banquet

This painting is the second, far more ornate, version of the artist’s Platonic Banquet; the earlier canvas is in Karslruhe. This is a major example of his monumental manner. The handsomely patterned, tapestry-like enclosure reinforces the powerful figure groupings within. Its design comes close to the goals of the many new German schools for applied design, founded at a time of burgeoning industrial manufacture.