Dionysos 

Editor: We're looking at Franz von Stuck's "Dionysos," rendered in oil paint. What strikes me first is this kind of hazy, dreamlike quality, and the figure’s gaze… it’s rather intense. What do you see in this piece, beyond the grapes, of course? Curator: Beyond the grapes, darling? Ah, but the grapes *are* the key! Don’t you find it intoxicating? Stuck’s Dionysos isn't the robust god of revelry we often imagine. He's got this almost melancholic air, like a rock star facing an existential crisis after the encore. It makes me wonder, what's in the cup? Is it the oblivion he offers, or is it a question? Editor: Oblivion as a question – I like that. Is that why his eyes are so knowing? Curator: Perhaps. Or maybe it's the Symbolist in Stuck winking at us. Think of it, a god offering the very essence of his being—ecstasy, liberation—and asking *us* if we're brave enough to partake? Or, perhaps more chillingly, if we are worthy? It is not your frat-party Dionysos, that's for sure! It reminds me of that time I accidently bought a gallon of grape juice concentrate. Way too much of a good thing can take you to weird places. Editor: Absolutely. Now I can't unsee that self-aware quality... it’s a portrait of an artist wrestling with his own mythology. This god seems…complicated. I never imagined there’s so much under the surface in that symbolic image. Curator: Complicated, like all of us darlings. The surface is just a tempting invitation into the depths, wouldn’t you say?