A few days ago, I was strolling in Wien

A few days ago, I was strolling in Wien, and I casually arrived in front of Karlskirche, not far from the Technische Universäit. The XVIII century church has a nice baroque dome , but in front it shows the colonnade and the tympanum of a greek temple and two dull columns modeled after  the Colonna Traiana in Rome and presenting the history of Saint Carlo Borromeo. Apart from these faux pas, the church is overall gracious and nice. And yet, it lacked something, it lacked the feeling of life and death that you find even in second order art in Italy. After this first disappointment, my attention was drawn from the surrounding buildings. On the left there is a modern builduing,, that represents in some way a wing of the church; in front, there is a large elliptic fountain with a modern abstract scuplture on one side. The sculpture and the modern building are certainly not masterpieces, but they have they appear to have the aura that is definitively lacking in the church. This leads me to the two following considerations: 1) in much of Northern Europe classic art is largely a plate imitation of Italian art, but at the beginning of XXth century a new original style developed in Central Europe (Klimt, the Bauhaus) that eventually became the artistic mainstream; Italian contribution to modern art is important but not central. 2) Italian art is wonderful, but it’s aim is the glorification of the Prince; so it conveys a feeling of life and death, closely connected to the power oif life and death of the ruler. The art of the North is sometimes inane, but gracious, since it’s aim is not the glory of kings, but the enjoyment of the people, the embellishment of public squares and lanes.