Book Description

During the first half of the 18th century, Dresden became a mecca for artists, craftsmen, architects, and theatrical and musical performers. They came from Paris, Venice, Verona, Bologna, Brussels, and Copenhagen, and from nearby Aussig, Erfurt, and Weimar. Dresden in the Ages of splendor and Enlightenment celebrates and examines for the first time 18th-century painting both collected and produced in Dresden. The landscapes, cityscapes, portraits, and religious and allegorical paintings from the legendary Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister reflect the interplay between collecting and creating art in one of the great artistic centers of 18th-century Europe, one comparable in brilliance with other German-speaking power centers of the period such as Vienna, Munich, or Berlin.