Though the Semper Building will close during the autumn and winter time most of its exposition space, it will still be possible to see important works of art from the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Picture Gallery). These include Raphael's "Sistine Madonna" as well as Giorgione's "Sleeping Venus", Vermeer's "The Procuress" or Bellotto's famous panoramic view of Dresden.
The exhibition offers a selection of 100 masterpieces of the collection, which comprise around 3,800 works. In addition, the various schools are shown side by side. The exhibition reflects the taste of the Saxon electors and thus the history of the collection. Many of the works belonged to the Kunstkammer or embellished the apartments of the electoral residence palace before Augustus the Strong set up his first picture gallery in the palace in 1718.
Van Eyck, Dürer, Holbein, Rubens, Rembrandt, Poussin, Claude Lorrain, Murillo - from the early Renaissance to the Enlightenment the visitor can discover the most famous paintings. The combination of these exquisite masterpieces across schools and epochs enables an unique experience of art in a small space until the Semper Building will reopened in full splendor and size in February 2020.
One of the most well-known motifs of art history is found in the gallery: the Sistine Madonna by Raphael with its two angels at the bottom. Even 500 years after its creation, it continues to move those who view it and has become part of a visual memory that has long developed a life of its own as a decorative element on umbrellas and refrigerator magnets.
