The Caresses (The Sphinx)

painting by Khnopff

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July 21, 2026

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"The Caresses (The Sphinx)" is a painting by Belgian artist Fernand Khnopff, created in 1896. Khnopff was a prominent figure in the Symbolist movement, known for blending precise realism with dreamlike atmospheres.1

This particular painting is an interpretation of Gustave Moreau's "Oedipus and the Sphinx". It features a hybrid creature, part human and part leopard, alongside an androgynous figure of Oedipus. The sphinx itself is a mythological creature with a lion's body and a human head, significant in both Egyptian and Greek art and legend. The Great Sphinx of Giza, a famous example, is a colossal limestone statue dating back to ancient Egypt.123

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Fernand Khnopff
In 1896 he painted The Caresses (The Sphinx), his best-known work. The painting’s subject is an interpretation of Moreau’s Oedipus and the Sphinx (1864) and features a hybrid human-leopard nestled next to an androgynous Oedipus.
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In 1896 he painted The Caresses (The Sphinx), his best-known work. The painting’s subject is an interpretation of Moreau’s Oedipus and the Sphinx (1864) and features a hybrid human-leopard nestled next to an androgynous Oedipus.
Read More