2009 - Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

Page 80: This logo will signify the 2010 Jubilee Year of the
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Soon to be seen in the Türckische Cammer: Horses with Ottoman
bridles dating from the early 16th and late 17th centuries and ...
H IGH LIGHtS OF tH E
J U B I LEE YEAR 2010
“Zukunft seit 1560” (State of the Art since 1560).
the Jubilee Year of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen
Dresden in 2010
In their Jubilee Year 2010, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen
Dresden will be celebrating their 450-year history and also
looking towards the future. Historical sources show the
princely Kunstkammer in the Residenzschloss to have been
founded in 1560 by Elector August. This laid the basis for
one of the oldest and most important art collections in
Europe. The various museums and institutions that
emerged out of it bear witness to the wide-ranging interests
and far-reaching visions of the Saxon rulers. Even today,
the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden feel obliged
to preserve traditions, develop concepts and shape the
future. Everything that makes the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen
Dresden outstanding will be demonstrated
in concentrated form in the events taking place in 2010.
the türckische Cammer in the Residenzschloss
Opening in March 2010
The Türckische Cammer (Turkish Chamber) is one of the
oldest and most important collections of Ottoman art
anywhere in the world outside Turkey. Thanks to their
aesthetic tastes, their passion for collecting and their desire
for princely prestige, the electors of Saxony between the
16th and the 19th century gathered together a wealth of
treasures associated with the fashion for ‘turquerie’.
During the reign of Elector August the Strong, Saxon ad-
... Dagger grips, Ottoman,
mid-16th century
Lucas Cranach the Elder, “Adam”, 1531 (left)
and “Eve”, 1531 (right), Gemäldegalerie
Alte Meister
miration for the Ottoman Empire reached its climax. The
Elector of Saxony and later King of Poland frequently
dressed up as the Sultan in court festivities and also sent
his adjutant Johann Georg Spiegel to Constantinople to
purchase exotic wares. Furthermore, he imported camels
and Arabian horses with ornate bridles specifically for his
Baroque festivals.
The largest object in the Türckische Cammer is an Ottoman
three-mast tent – a 20 m long, 8 m wide and 6 m high
dream made of gold and silk. Only in Dresden is it possible
for visitors to enter such a tent and examine the supreme
craftsmanship of Ottoman textile artists at close quarters.
Among the other highlights are eight life-size carved
wooden horses. Altogether, more than 600 objects exhibited
in an area covering 750 square metres illustrate the
magnificent abundance of the Türckische Cammer.
Zukunft seit 1560. Die Ausstellung
(State of the Art since 1560. the exhibition)
Dresden, Residenzschloss
18 th April – 7 th November 2010
In an area covering 1,800 m² in seven rooms, the Jubilee
Exhibition will present a concentration and diversity of art
that is rarely seen. The exhibition will show objects from
among the enormous reservoir of art treasures in the holdings
of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden: Cranach’s
“Adam and Eve”, delicate items from the Grünes Gewölbe, a
Dragoon Vase, as well as a 16th-century crab automaton and
shadow figures from Java. They will be further enriched by
objects provided on loan by German and international
museums, including the Louvre in Paris, the Hermitage in St.
Petersburg and the Staatsgemäldesammlungen in Munich.
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