The Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister and the Skulpturensammlung up to 1800 are jointly presenting their works in the Semper Building at the Zwinger. Surrounding Raphael's ‘Sistine Madonna’, one of the most famous works of art in the world, visitors can enjoy a unique tour through European art history, which can be traced in Dresden more impressively and comprehensively than in almost any other German museum thanks to undisputed key works from the respective eras.
The gallery owes this special feature to the targeted collecting activities of the Saxon electors, whose impressive impact is also due to the uniform framing of the paintings initiated in the 18th century.
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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 objects were removed from there in the late 19th century.
Currently, two rooms in the Winckelmann Forum of the Old Masters Picture Gallery will once again be showing paintings that have not been on display for some time: Masterpieces, primarily of German and Dutch art, created in the late 15th century and the early northern Alpine Renaissance at the beginning of the 16th century. On display are altars and paintings with religious themes by Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach the Elder and his son, Cranach the Younger, Georg Breu, Sigmund Holbein, Rogier van Weyden, Joos van Cleve and other early Netherlandish artists.
The Semper Building, which was redesigned in 2020, displays antique sculptures and works of art from the early modern period alongside paintings by the Old Masters. The comparison clearly shows that the genres not only influenced, but also competed with each other. Exciting juxtapositions thus convey an even more comprehensive picture of the different eras and regions.
The large hall in the east wing of the ground floor was once designed by Gottfried Semper (1803–1879) to house the historical plaster casts from the Mengs Collection, an exhibition that was discontinued towards the end of the 19th century. The light-flooded room now displays a selection of the most beautiful objects from the Antiquities Collection dating from 3000 BC to 500 AD. Marble sculptures, such as the famous three ‘Herculaneum Women’, bronze statuettes, painted clay vessels, funerary monuments and Egyptian mummies bring the ancient world back to life.
The Dresden court painter Anton Raphael Mengs collected over 800 plaster casts for study purposes, mainly of famous works from antiquity. After his death, these were purchased from Rome and brought to Dresden. Today, this collection is considered the largest existing collection of historical plaster casts from the 18th century. It was already on display in the Semper Building from 1857 to 1889. Now it can be admired on the ground floor of the German Pavilion.
Great masterpieces of sculpture from the Middle Ages to the Baroque period are not only displayed in the halls of the Gemäldegalerie, where they invite direct comparison, but also in the sculpture gallery. Here you will find mainly exquisite small bronze sculptures from the Renaissance. In addition to creations by Giambologna, Susini and Adriaen de Vries, the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius created by Filarete in the mid-15th century, the oldest existing small bronze sculpture from the Renaissance, is also on display here.
Experience art digitally with our multimedia guide directly on your smartphone or tablet. Before, during and after your visit to the museum, you will receive insights and background information on selected artworks. The guide is available free of charge without download directly from the website. Please bring your own headphones for use in our museums.
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
The online tour for smartphone and tablet
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
The online tour for smartphone and tablet
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
The online tour for smartphone and tablet
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
The online tour for smartphone and tablet
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
The online tour for smartphone and tablet
Albertinum, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Kupferstich-Kabinett, Porzellansammlung
The online tour for smartphone and tablet
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
The online tour for smartphone and tablet
