The Scariest Coincidence in Art History

[00:00:00]In 1889, the German painter, Franz von Stuck, completed one of his darkest works. The painting shows a menacing rider on a black horse >> [music] >> leading a procession of spectral figures through the night. His red cloak billows in the wind and his face is partially hidden by shadows. When this work was first presented to the public, it was praised by critics. Nobody saw in it anything more than an impressive painting of mythological themes. But decades later, when the world began to recognize the face of an Austrian politician who was transforming Germany, a terrifying coincidence would begin to take shape. The rider in the painting looked like Adolf Hitler and the painting [music] had been completed in 1889, the exact same year Hitler was born. But before discussing whether this is simply a coincidence, I think it is worth remembering who Franz von Stuck was.

[00:00:55]According to Robert Waite, in his 1977 book, The Psychopathic God, Hitler was extremely fascinated by this man's paintings to the point of considering him his favorite artist. Franz von Stuck was born in Bavaria in 1863 and was a painter, sculptor, printmaker, and architect. A man of extraordinary talent who by the age of 32 was already a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and who became the most prominent [music] figure of the Jugendstil, the German Art Nouveau movement. His paintings were highly recognizable in his time. Most of them were dark, symbolic, charged with erotic and mythological energy. His works typically revolved around sin, sensuality, demons, and Germanic [music] gods. Von Stuck portrayed in his paintings a world of shadows and primal forces that few artists of his era dared to explore.

[00:01:51]The Wild Hunt is one of his darkest [music] paintings and it deals with one of the oldest and most widespread myths [music] of northern Europe. According to legend, the Wild Hunt was a procession of supernatural beings that appeared in the sky or on the earth announced by chilling sounds. Along with it came the barking of dogs, the thunder of hooves, hunting horns, and howls that tore through the night. At its head, it is said, rode a god leading the pack and behind him a horde of the dead, beasts, and spirits [music] advanced without stopping. The legend holds that whoever crosses paths with the hunt could be swept away by it or at best could simply die of terror. This myth traveled through Scandinavia, the Alps, and the British Isles. It took on different names and different forms, but it was always the same thing, an unstoppable force that asks no [music] permission, makes no distinction between the innocent and the guilty, and destroys everything in its path. In the Germanic tradition, the leader of that hunt was Wotan, the supreme god of the Norse [music] pantheon, the god of storm, frenzy, and death, and also known as the lord of the fallen warriors.

[00:03:02]>> [music] >> And it was Wotan that von Stuck chose to portray in this painting. Franz von Stuck built an overwhelming sense of unstoppable movement in this work. If we look closely, [music] the entire right side of the canvas is dominated by the horse and its rider. The animal's snout eerily mimics the contour of a skull and the rider leans forward toward us as if about to leap out [music] of the painting. In one hand, he holds a scythe and with the other he grips the horse's mane. His red cloak billows violently in the wind and in the background, in the upper left corner, a mass of naked bodies, faces with wild eyes, skulls, riders, and horses appear to be in a constant state of agitation and screaming. Von Stuck used a predominantly dark palette [music] in this painting, a deep blue, black, brown, and touches of yellow. The only living element of color is the rider's red cloak, which functions as the single point of warmth in the cold and violent environment. [music] Now, when the painting was presented in 1889, nobody paid particular attention to Wotan's face. After all, it was a Germanic god depicted with the intensity that such a figure deserved. But in the 1930s, when the world began to grow familiar with photographs of Adolf [music] Hitler, a certain similarity between the Germanic god in the painting and Hitler's appearance became quite evident. And this is where the story becomes truly disturbing, because although opinions may differ on whether the resemblance is real or not, as I mentioned [music] at the beginning of this video, the painting was completed in 1889, the same year Adolf Hitler [music] was born. And on top of that, according to various sources, Hitler encountered this painting as a child, and from that moment on, it left [music] a mark on him. But before we continue, I would like to remind you that if you would like to have this work in your collection, it is available on [music] our website. In the link in the description, you will find our catalog with more than 900 carefully selected historical [music] works from different artists, so you can choose your favorites and begin your own art collection. Shipping is free worldwide, and by purchasing from the store, you will be supporting me enormously in continuing to create videos like this every week. What historians have documented is that Hitler was profoundly [music] fascinated by Norse and Germanic mythology, and within that universe, Wotan occupied [music] a special place.

[00:05:32]We must keep in mind that Wotan was not simply a god, but the archetype of a relentless leader. For a man who built his entire political [music] image on the promise of a new order born out of chaos, it is possible that Wotan was seen not merely as mythology, but as a model to follow. And that fascination was not exclusive to Hitler. The Nazi regime as an institution was deeply [music] invested in the idea of recovering the spiritual heritage of the ancient Germanic [music] world. Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, created an entire division dedicated to searching for objects [music] of mythological and occult significance, among them Thor's hammer, the weapon of the Germanic [music] god of thunder, which the Nazis believed held real power and could legitimize their regime as the rightful heirs of an [music] ancient and superior civilization. The psychologist Carl Gustav Jung wrote about all of this in the 1930s. For Jung, Wotan was not simply a figure from Germanic antiquity, but rather the truest expression of something sleeping in the German collective unconscious, a force that had remained dormant for centuries, and that in that specific historical moment was waking up. Franz von Stuck died in 1928, five years before Hitler came to power, so he never saw what was to come, but his work did have a direct relationship with the Nazi [music] regime. Hermann Göring, commander of the Luftwaffe and one of the most powerful men in the Third Reich, gathered several of von Stuck's works at his residence [music] in Carinhall, and von Stuck's portrait of two young ladies was [music] destined for the Führer Museum in Linz, the grand art museum Hitler had planned to build, but that never saw the light of day.

[00:07:16]Now, knowing that Hitler was familiar with Franz von Stuck's paintings and his fascination [music] with Norse mythology, it is not unreasonable to think that figures like [music] Wotan may have helped shape his image. However, what we will never know is whether [music] this specific painting had any direct influence on any of that. It is genuinely curious to think [music] that this work was completed the same year Hitler was born, and on top of that, to notice a physical resemblance between the two. But, are we looking at a simple coincidence, or was it simply that an ambitious [music] and violent man found in the art of his time the exact mirror of what he wanted to become? I would love [music] to read your opinion in the comments. As always, thank you for watching until the end, [music] and I will see you in the next video.