1887 Art Row: 'Death is Ruler' Finally Shown

In 1887, German artist Hermione von Preuschen's symbolic painting, "Mors Imperator" (Death is the Ruler), was met with controversy. The artwork, featuring a skeleton with an iron crown standing on a globe and toppling a throne, was deemed potentially mocking of the ageing German Emperor Wilhelm I. The Berlin Academy of Arts refused its submission, initiating a scandal that would last for over a century.

Von Preuschen, a proponent of women's education in art, was not politically motivated, according to art historians. Despite this, authorities perceived a hidden anti-monarchical message. The artist, devastated by the rejection, exhibited the painting herself in Berlin, gaining significant notoriety and making the work famous.

Originally intended as part of a larger cycle, "Mors Imperator" was eventually sold in 1892. Following the artist's death in 1918, her works were donated to a local Berlin museum. Now, more than 100 years after its initial rejection, the significant painting has been loaned to the Alte Nationalgalerie museum, finally receiving its long-awaited public exhibition in a state institution.

The painting's thematic message about the transience of earthly power proved prescient. Emperor Wilhelm I died in 1888, followed by his son Frederick III later that same year, a period known as the "Year of the Three Emperors" due to the rapid succession of rulers.