Franz von Stuck (1863-1928)
"Caritas Fraternitatis" ("Brotherly Love")
lithograph
circa 1887
32,3 x 24,7 cm
signed in the stone at top "Stuck"
The Daulton Collection
A humorous sheet paraphrasing the opening line of Hebrews 13, "Caritas fraternitatis maneat in vobis" ("Let brotherly love abide in you"), here rendered "Caritas fraternitatis maneat in nobis" ("Let brotherly love abide in us"). The bottom part of the sheet depicts a person tenderly cradling a large flea on his or her leg. In the top left part of the sheet is the self-portrait of Franz von Stuck in profile; his cursive signature "Stuck" appears to the right.
On the pencil drawing's verso is an ink study of human leg bones:
