franz josef symbolized permanence and stability.e cultivated a status quo, based on a bureaucracy and state censorship, which exerted a virtual strangle hold on the capital's cultural imagination. artistic life was dominated by the baroque history painting of the fine arts academy. architectural endeavor aimed at creating a sense of continuity with a grand past. the town hall-- late gothic... the hofburg theater-- high baroque... the parliament buildings-- classical greek. against this background, artists and architects across europe sought new ways of looking, new forms of building, that would embody the idealism and progress of the new age. in vienna, these hopes found expression in this building, the viennese sezession building, designed by josef maria olbrich in 1898. in its simplicity and its distinctive ornamental dome, it's an early attempt at modern architecture. the building housed a group of artists and architects who, in 1897, seceded, or broke away, from the reactionary academy of fine arts to form their own organization