Thou Shalt Not Kill, 1902

About the Work

Mocked by his contemporaries as a “turnip apostle” – and all but forgotten by posterity – Diefenbach was an avowed pacifist, nudist and vegetarian. Barefoot and wrapped in a monk’s habit, he denounced “animal murder” in front of the Munich Hofbräuhaus: “Rather die than renounce my ideals.” An artist with an affinity to turn-of-the-century Symbolism, he developed an independent and surprisingly modern pictorial idiom which left its mark on pupils such as František Kupka. ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’ is considered one of Diefenbach’s major works.