Leseprobe

4 ‘The greatest treasure trove of ancient statues is to be found in Dresden […] Con- cerning the best of them, I cannot however extol their beauty, because they stand in a shed of wooden boards, packed together like herrings […].’ 1 Johann JoachimWinckelmann’s famous lament from the year 1763 empha- sizes two central aspects: first, the outstanding quality of Dresden’s collection of classical antiquities, which contains singular marble sculptures, and is hence re- garded by experts as unsurpassed worldwide; and secondly the urgent necessity for an installation that does justice to the significance of this splendid ensemble. Now, the new presentation of the Skulpturensammlung (Sculpture Collection) covering the period from Antiquity to Neoclassicism, in the splendidly renovated Gottfried Semper Gallery Building in the Zwinger, strives to do justice to these prerequisites. Today, the Skulpturensammlung up to 1800 consists of four essential com- ponents: the collection of antiquities, the collection of medieval sculpture, the collection of Renaissance and Baroque sculpture, and the plaster cast collection. While carved Gothic figures from Dresden’s Skulpturensammlung have been on loan to the Schlossbergmuseum in Chemnitz since 2009, the other parts of the collection have been on display in various visible-storage study rooms since the redesign of the Albertinum in 2010. The new permanent exhibition – shown in juxtaposition with old master paintings – features ancient sculptures in the East Hall, Renaissance and Baroque sculptures in the Sculpture Gallery, and allows the splendour of the sculptural works before 1800 to again be seen in their best light. The foundations of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden were formed by the Kunstkammer (cabinet of arts and curiosities), initiated by the Elector August (r. 1553–1586) and housed in the Residenzschloss since 1560. Exhibited there alongside paintings were handcrafted objects, naturalia, mineral specimens, scientific instruments, and clocks. Thanks to an inventory compiled in 1587, we know, for example, that the elector already owned a number of important stat- uettes by Giambologna. Among these are a Nessus and Deianira (p. 140), a Mercury , and a Sleeping Venus with Satyr – works that had been sent by the Tuscan Grand Duke Francesco I de’ Medici to the Elector Christian I. When acceding to the throne, the Saxon regent also received gifts from Duke Gonzaga in Mantua (among them Filarete’s Marcus Aurelius , p. 124), as well as from ‘The greatest treasure trove of ancient statues is to be found in Dresden’ On the History of Dresden’s Skulpturensammlung Stephan Koja