This is the Secession building in Vienna. Not only a work of art in itself, it is manifesto for freedom of artistic expression, a rebellion against the stifling expectations of formal Academic painting which led in so many European capitals in the late 19th century. Over the entrance, it reads:
Der Zeit Ihre Kunst
Der Kunst, Ihre Freiheit
(To each age, its art
To art, its freedom)
You can see this under the cut, together with some more detail of the decoration and its celebration of painting, architecture and sculpture.
