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Arts & Communication

ARTICLE
The riddle of the sphinx revisited: Contemplating

Fernand Khnopff’s Caresses in the light of the
Anthropocene condition

Tom Hannes*

Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences, Eindhoven University of Technology,
Eindhoven, North Brabant, Netherlands
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Critical Posthuman Art and Communication)

Abstract

In this paper, I discuss the painting Caresses (1896) by the Belgian Symbolist painter
Fernand Khnopff as a portrait of a man-animal-machine hybrid, framed as an alienating
reinterpretation of the encounter between Oedipus and the sphinx. I interpret
Caresses in two ways: first, as a reflection of modern Western obstacles that impede
the development of a proper moral response to the Anthropocene condition, and
second, as a potential source of inspiration for Anthropocene morality. For the first
reading, I focus on four quasi-simultaneous events that epitomize these obstacles.
First, I begin with the first scientific description of global warming by Svante Arrhenius
in 1896, which introduced a gap between the physical and moral dimensions of the
*Corresponding author: Anthropocene. Second, I link the first Belgian automobile festival in 1896 to modern
Tom Hannes Western technological triumphalism. Third, I discuss Freud’s theory of the Oedipus
(tom_hannes@yahoo.com) complex, first introduced in 1897, as an instance of the modern Western tendency to
Citation: Hannes T. The riddle of seek meaningfulness within the individual. Finally, I analyze Joséphin Péladan’s art
the sphinx revisited: Contemplating salons (1892 – 1896) as an example of the late 19 -century esoteric revival – highly
th
Fernand Khnopff’s Caresses in the influential in proposing alternative sources of meaningfulness but ultimately failing
light of the Anthropocene condition.
Arts & Communication. to provide one that fits our Anthropocene condition. In reinterpreting Caresses as a
2025;3(3):5868. source of inspiration for an ecological Anthropocene morality, I discuss the painting
doi: 10.36922/ac.5868 in terms of three non-Freudian “Oedipus complexes” that articulate our hybrid nature
Received: November 12, 2024 as beings embedded within the Earth’s critical zone – a dense network of intelligences
Revised: December 11, 2024 encompassing life-forms, technologies, and our moral and philosophical frameworks.
Accepted: March 24, 2025
Keywords: Climate change; Cyborg; Esotericism; Fernand Khnopff; Oedipus; Morality;
Published online: May 2, 2025
Sigmund Freud; Technology
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms
of the Creative Commons
AttributionNoncommercial License, 1. Introduction: Experimenting with Oedipus and the sphinx
permitting all non-commercial use,
distribution, and reproduction in any In 1896, the Belgian painter Fernand Khnopff (1858 – 1922) presented his work Caresses
medium, provided the original work (Figure 1). The canvas is strikingly horizontal, lending the composition the air of a
is properly cited. 20 -century spaghetti Western, with a static, mysterious male protagonist staring in front
th
Publisher’s Note: AccScience of him in a desolate landscape. The scenery, marked by barren red earth and cypresses,
Publishing remains neutral with contains antique Corinthian pillars and a wall inscribed with characters resembling
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional ancient Near-Eastern script. The dominant presence of a creature with a female head and
affiliations. a feline body makes the scene likely to be interpreted as the encounter between Oedipus

Volume 3 Issue 3 (2025) 1 doi: 10.36922/ac.5868