Gods, Heroes and Traitors

To become a history painter was the ultimate goal of countless painters over the centuries. It was considered the highest genre and was more valuable than still lifes, landscapes and portraits. There are many reasons for this: the creators of these paintings had to be literarily educated, well versed in the Bible and classical mythology. History paintings are grand narratives, they usually skillfully combine several scenes in one aesthetic composition. History painters had to be able to do everything and thus differed from specialists in flower or portrait painting. Clients were usually kings, princes and other influential wealthy people. The subject of such a history painting was always embedded in the current political context: a history painter was thus a skillful propagandist. For this reason, history paintings are of enormous importance for historical research, as the Albertina is now highlighting in an exhibition from June 2 to August 27.

Gods, Heroes and Traitors. The History Picture around 1800 brings together paintings, drawings and designs by masters of their field: Jacques-Louis David, Heinrich Füssli the Younger, Angelika Kauffmann and Heinrich Friedrich Füger continue to inspire visitors with their complex pictorial works even after more than 200 years. In the 19th century, history painting experienced a flight of fancy in the course of the rapid formation of various nation states in Europe - such as Belgium, Germany and Italy − which, however, quickly subsided. Colonization and industrialization opened up new possibilities for representations of power and pictorial content. New techniques such as photography and social ideas such as atheism gnawed at the supremacy of painting or the church. The history painting disappeared in a time of radical change, which also manifested itself in modern art.