Gustav Klimt Hygieia, c.1901 (detail from Medicine)

The second of the University paintings, "Medicine," was exhibited at the tenth Secession exhibition in the Spring of 1901. The painting is another of his human chains representing the various stages of earthly development. He uses this theme again in 1905's "The Three Stages of Man." The figure of Hygeia rises out of the depths, bearing the miraculous healing power of Medicine. Hygeia is the miracle-working daughter of Aesculapius. Adverse reaction from the prudish public led to the Ministry defending the commission in Parliament, for many at the time considered the piece, on the whole, immoral, pornographic and just plain stomach turning. Tragically, the original was destroyed by the Nazis in 1945 in Schloss Immendorf.