Description: In 1894, Klimt was commissioned to paint the ceilings in the University of Vienna’s Great Hall. The commission included three paintings, Philosophy, Medicine, and Jurisprudence. Philosophy was the first of the three pictures presented. Klimt described the painting as follows: "On the left a group of figures, the beginning of life, fruition, decay. On the right, the globe as mystery. Emerging below, a figure of light: knowledge."
