Villa Stuck

In keeping with the theme of admiring Munich's residences, we decided to go visit Villa Stuck one day, which was the home of the famous Art Nouveau artist Franz von Stuck.  To be honest, I am not drawn to his paintings or imagery, but I was hankering to see the Jugendstil details of his home and they turned out to be well worth seeing (other rooms housed art exhibitions of various artists, but we decided to skip them).

How the villa originally looked.

The entrance was white and relatively cheery. 

But all the living spaces had a dark and slightly forlorn feel.

Though opulent as well.

 A zodiac graced the ceiling.

The gallery housed some of his famous paintings.

Such as "The Sphinx."

And "The Guardian of Paradise."

The artist himself.

Upstairs was the infamous "Sin Altar."

 The altar is named after the painting it holds - "The Sin."

 And despite what the name implies, the room with the 
altar was used as an atelier (as old pictures show).

Despite the beautiful craftmanship of the home, it had a macabre feel.  The air felt heavy in the rooms and little light was let in, except in the gallery with Stuck's paintings.  Upstairs, the atelier was well-lit, but the Sin Altar gave it a dark tone all of its own.  After touring the rooms, it felt nice to return back into the open air and sunlight where everything was not shrouded in heavy drapes and dark colors.  So now, Villa Stuck is entering my list of places that are ghastly.  The only ones that top it on the list so far are the Capuchin Crypt in Rome and a haunted house I visited while still in elementary school!  But none the less, it was a beautiful house with many complex archtitectural details and unique furniture.