Frenzy of Exultations

Frenzy of Exultations (1893)

Władysław Podkowiński was a Polish painter of pretty countryside scenes who clearly had a bit of a Moment one day, and in the midst of his battle with terminal TB produced one inspired symbolist painting that surprised the hell out of everyone. Including himself, it seems.

Thirty-six days into the sensational public exhibition of this painting - 12,000 people had queued to be thoroughly scandalised - Podkowiński rocked up to his creation and slashed it repeatedly with a knife, cutting only at the figure of the woman.

The 3m high painting was restored after his death, and donated to the national museum in Krakow.

There's a story in there somewhere: a dark muse, a succubus riding a nightmare, the terrifying power of eroticism...