Franz von Stuck (1863-1928) was a German symbolist painter and sculptor that lived and taught in Munich. He was known for his erotic representation of Greek myth. 

Sisyphus

 

 Below (Sin) is his most well-known work: 

Sin

 

Circe

 

Kiss of the Sphinx

 

Music

 

Symbolism flourished out of a darker side of the romantic movement and generally represented dream or idealistic worlds.  Rather than using common human symbols/icons, artists used more personal symbolism as a means to self-expression.  According to Jean Moréas (author of the Symbolist Manifesto), the goal of symbolism was “to express the Ideal” through indirect metaphor: “In this art, scenes from nature, human activities, and all other real world phenomena will not be described for their own sake; here, they are perceptible surfaces created to represent their esoteric affinities with the primordial Ideals.”