Klimt painted his only true fresco, the Beethoven Frieze, for the 14th Secession exhibition in Vienna (1902). It was intended as part of the group's homage to the Leipzig artist Max Klinger, whose polychrome sculpture, the Beethoven Monument (Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig), formed the centrepiece of the show.

The fresco occupies three walls of a room in the Secession Building. It was conceived as a pictorial paraphrase of the final movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony depicting the struggle for happiness undertaken by a knight in armour who, vanquishing the 'hostile powers', leads 'weak humanity' into the realm of the arts. The final section was identified by a quotation from Schiller's An die Freude ('Ode to joy'): 'Joy, fair spark of divinity, here's a kiss for all the world'.

Preview	Picture Data	File Info	Comment
	Beethoven Frieze (view of the room) 1902 Photo Secession Building, Vienna	1800*1283 True Color 209 Kb
	Beethoven Frieze (view of the room) 1902 Photo Secession Building, Vienna	1800*1279 True Color 265 Kb
	Beethoven Frieze: centre wall 1902 Casein paints, stucco coverings, various materials, gold plating on mortar, 217 x 639 cm Secession Building, Vienna	1600*536 True Color 259 Kb
	Beethoven Frieze: centre wall (detail) 1902 Casein paints, stucco coverings, various materials, gold plating on mortar Secession Building, Vienna	1300*903 True Color 229 Kb
	Beethoven Frieze: centre wall (detail) 1902 Casein paints, stucco coverings, various materials, gold plating on mortar Secession Building, Vienna	618*1000 True Color 186 Kb
	Beethoven Frieze: left wall (part 1) 1901 Casein paints, stucco coverings, various materials, gold plating on mortar, 217 x 454 cm Secession Building, Vienna	1800*864 True Color 191 Kb
	Beethoven Frieze: left wall (part 2) 1901 Casein paints, stucco coverings, various materials, gold plating on mortar, 215 x 276 cm Secession Building, Vienna	1300*1012 True Color 285 Kb
	Beethoven Frieze: left wall (part 2, detail) 1901 Casein paints, stucco coverings, various materials, gold plating on mortar Secession Building, Vienna	1400*934 True Color 174 Kb
	Beethoven Frieze: right wall 1901 Casein paints, stucco coverings, various materials, gold plating on mortar, 217 x 1303 cm Secession Building, Vienna	1800*277 True Color 125 Kb
	Beethoven Frieze: right wall (part 1) 1901 Casein paints, stucco coverings, various materials, gold plating on mortar, 215 x 516 cm Secession Building, Vienna	1800*755 True Color 100 Kb
	Beethoven Frieze: right wall (part 2) 1901 Casein paints, stucco coverings, various materials, gold plating on mortar, 215 x 516 cm Secession Building, Vienna	1600*718 True Color 273 Kb
	Beethoven Frieze: right wall (part 2, deatail) 1901 Casein paints, stucco coverings, various materials, gold plating on mortar Secession Building, Vienna	1400*934 True Color 147 Kb