Dresden celebrates Reopening of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Picture Gallery) and Skulpturensammlung (Sculpture Collection) up to 1800

After several years of reconstruction and refurbishment, the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden will be open to visitors from 29. February 2020 on. Since the construction work was divided into two phases, the Gallery’s most prominent works have remained on display throughout this time and two interim exhibitions with unusual juxtapositions have also revealed new connections.

Source: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden Photo: Jürgen Lösel

World famous masterpieces

These experiences have been drawn upon in creating the completely redesigned new permanent exhibition. The design concept follows the principle of hanging paintings according to geographical origin and school, while also drawing attention to certain important themes in each period. World famous masterpieces, such as Raphael’s Sistine Madonna, Rembrandt‘s Ganymede and the views of Dresden by Bernardo Bellotto will function as focal points, emphasizing the unique status and significance of these painters and their works for European art history.

Source: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden Photo: David Pinzer

Already the famous German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was overwhelmed by the richness and quality of the Dresden painting gallery: “I entered this shrine, and my amazement exceeded any preconceived idea!”. Therefore the museum, located in a building by Gottfried Semper right in the cultural heart of the city, is regarded to be one of the most important of its kind in the world.

Antique statues which made history

Furthermore, the exhibition will highlight the mutual influences of painting and sculpture, as well as underlining the importance of antique sculpture for Renaissance and Baroque painting. In the Sculpture Hall in the east wing, the important collection of antiquities will again be on display. This hall was originally intended and planned by Gottfried Semper to house the historic plaster casts from the Mengs collection – however, these s were removed from there in the late 19th century.

Source: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden Photo: David Brandt

These statues wrote world history. They inspired Johann Joachim Winckelmann to write his essays about antique art – which lead to the style of classicism. The ideal of white columned buildings, decorated by white statues which found their most stringent in the US capital Washington D.C. is d on Winckelmann’s (historically wrong) explanation of Greek art.

Small bronzes and marble sculptures juxtaposed with paintings

In 2016, a selection of these plaster casts returned to the Gemäldegalerie and will be on show there in the future. Small bronzes and marble sculptures from the Renaissance and Baroque periods complement the exhibition, many of them being directly juxtaposed with paintings. Dozens of paintings, sculptures and antique vases have undergone thorough restoration specifically for presentation in the new exhibition, and the famous gallery s from the 18th century have also been renovated.

Source: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden Photo: David Pinzer

New colored wall coverings and accent lighting will cast the paintings and sculptures in the best possible light. Additional areas for changing exhibitions will provide space for numerous works that would otherwise lie dormant in the storerooms.

https://gemaeldegalerie.skd.museum/en/