Am Steinhof Church, mosaic design for the main altar 1905

Koloman Moser produced this design for a mosaic in the Am Steinhof Church in Vienna. It depicts Christ in Majesty surrounded by saints, and signals a renewal of religious art in the Secessionist style. Here, the traditional visual codes of Christian iconography are reimagined through the lens of early twentieth-century modernism. Commissioned for a church within a psychiatric hospital, the image negotiates institutional histories, combining the sacred space with a concern for public health. Moser, a leading figure in the Wiener Werkstätte, brings his design principles to bear on the spiritual and social functions of the church. The result challenges the conservative norms of religious art while serving a therapeutic environment. To fully understand this work, one might delve into Vienna's cultural history, the Secession movement, and the social role of art in therapeutic settings. Through such study, we discover how art reflects and shapes the values of its time.