The Wild Chase

7/1/2026

Franz von Stuck (1863 - 1928) finished The Wild Chase (or the Wild Hunt) in 1889, the same year a certain Austrian individual who would one day become the leader of the Third Reich was born.

As evidenced below, the painting depicts the Germanic god Wotan leading a a chaotic hunt comprising a supernatural, ghostly horde of the dead and damned.

Apparently, von Stuck was one of the Austrian-born future leader's favorite painters, to the point that some historians claim that said leader consciously or subconconsciously modeled his physical appearance, public persona, and mannerisms after von Stuck's rendition of Wotan in this very painting.

I won't go into any details on the matter myself. There's plenty online for those interested.

Nevertheless, the similarity is certainly there. No denying that.

7 Comments

bruce g charlton

7/1/2026 18:49:53

It's an extraordinary picture, full of chaotic energy.

I find it hard to see exactly what is happening; indeed at first I thought the main (Wotan) character was riding a *bear* - which might actually have been "pretty cool".

Francis Berger

7/2/2026 08:56:23

@ Bruce - It could be a bear, but it could also be a huge wild boar. Then again, it could be a mythical creature of some sort. According to the mythology, Wotan rode an 8-legged horse named Sleipnir, so it could be that.

bruce g charlton

7/2/2026 09:43:16

I seem to see a horse's head, and front legs curled-back, and assume it is an impressionistic (and four legged) equine. But the bend of the beast's front legs give an *impression* of a much shorter-legged animal; as Wotan's left foot appear to be near to the ground.

What strikes me about this is a tremendous sense of movement, of a kind usually associated with late Van Gogh (I am not suggesting direct influence, rather a Zeitgeist phenomenon) - but also reckless speed, which is rare of maybe unique in any painting I have seen.

William Wildblood

7/2/2026 10:56:35

I'd heard that this was an example of mysterious prophetic genius on the part of von Stuck. It's interesting to hear and makes much more sense that the Austrian leader modelled himself on the painting. The other thing would be decidedly strange.

Francis Berger

7/2/2026 16:16:06

@ William - "I'd heard that this was an example of mysterious prophetic genius on the part of von Stuck."

Yes, I encountered the same, but was unimpressed by it. That he had a vision of the leader seems a bit of a stretch to me.

Still, in a more general way, that doesn't rule out that von Stuck perhaps sensed what could manifest in German lands in the not too distant future.

bruce g charlton

7/2/2026 19:59:39

This "prophetic" line of inference may be rooted in ignorance. because the Germans* were the first and original Romantics - in literature (Schiller, Goethe, Novalis etc), and the first theorists of Romanticism and Nationalism (e.g. Herder, Lessing) - way back in the late 1700s.

Der Freischutz by Weber is from 1821. Caspar David Friedrich was a Romantic painter of an earlier generation.

There is, of course, something personal and distinctive about what comes across from von Stuck's paintings (from what I have sampled) - but this is also a manifestation of a century-old German Romanticism.

*i.e. The German culture of central Europe - including not just post-unification-Germany, but also Austria, German-speaking Switzerland; and cities currently in modern Poland, Hungary, Czech, Hanseatic ports etc.

Francis Berger

7/3/2026 08:41:17

@ Bruce - Yes, the roots of German Romanticism permeate much of von Stuck's work, but it strikes me as being of the Late Romantic period in terms of quality. A more modern Symbolist streak laces through his mythological themes. Having said that, his work is certainly personal and distinctive, as you have noted.

Apropos, I think I'll feature one of his most "Romantic" paintings in today's post.

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.

The Wild Chase

Leave a Reply.

Archives