The Semper Gallery as seen from the courtyard of the Zwinger
The Semper Gallery or Semper Building (German: Sempergalerie or Semperbau) in Dresden, Germany, was designed by the architect Gottfried Semper and constructed from 1847 until 1854.
The Theater Square with the Semper Gallery and the Semperoper (right) around 1900The Semper Gallery after its destruction in 1945
When the Zwinger was completed in 1728, its northern side towards the Theater Square and the river was left open in order to allow for further enlargements.[1] In 1838, the architect Gottfried Semper was asked to design an appropriate architectural setting for the painting collection of the royal court.[2] It was not until 1846 that it was decided to close the northern side of the Zwinger courtyard by placing the gallery building there and so creating a gallery wing of the Zwinger.[2]
The building, later named the Semper Gallery, was constructed from 1847 until 1854.[3] It is reminiscent of the Italian Palazzi of the Renaissance.[1] In 1855, the interior was completed. Unlike the former buildings that housed the painting collection, the interior of the Semper Gallery could be heated and therefore could remain open throughout the year. In 1855 the collection was moved into the Semper Gallery, which opened as the New Royal Museum (Neues Königliches Museum).[4]
The sculptors Ernst Rietschel and Ernst Julius Hähnel from Dresden completed the outer decoration of the building.[5] While the northern facade towards the Theater Square displays antique themes, the southern facade contains paintings with religious themes.
The building was severely damaged during the February 13, 1945 bombing of Dresden. Most of the paintings were evacuated for safe-keeping earlier and so were not harmed. The building's reconstruction was completed in 1960. Following another restoration period of more than four years, the Semper Gallery re-opened in 1992.[4]
The Zwinger is a palatial complex with gardens in Dresden, Germany. Designed by architect Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, it is one of the most important buildings of the Baroque period in Germany. Along with the Frauenkirche, the Zwinger is the most famous architectural monument of Dresden.
Bernhard von Reesen (1491 – 1521) was a successful merchant born to a patrician family in the Hanseatic city of Danzig (Gdańsk). The Reesen name, with its prefix "von" (of), indicates that the family had its origins in the city of Rees.
Willem Drost was a Dutch Golden Age painter and printmaker of history paintings and portraits.
The Semperoper is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden. It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the Theaterplatz near the Elbe River in the historic centre of Dresden, Germany.
The Gemäldegalerie is an art museum in Berlin, Germany, and the museum where the main selection of paintings belonging to the Berlin State Museums is displayed. It was first opened in 1830, and the current building was completed in 1998. It is located in the Kulturforum museum district west of Potsdamer Platz.
The Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden, Germany, displays around 750 paintings from the 15th to the 18th centuries. It includes major Italian Renaissance works as well as Dutch and Flemish paintings. Outstanding works by German, French, and Spanish painters of the period are also among the gallery's attractions.
The Albertinum is a modern art museum. The sandstone-clad Renaissance Revival building is located on Brühl's Terrace in the historic center of Dresden, Germany. It is named after King Albert of Saxony.
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden is a cultural institution in Dresden, Germany, owned by the State of Saxony. It is one of the most renowned and oldest museum institutions in the world, originating from the collections of the Saxon electors in the 16th century.
Adriaen van der Werff was a Dutch painter of portraits and erotic, devotional and mythological scenes. He painted several works for the Medicis. His brother, Pieter van der Werff (1661–1722), was his principal pupil and assistant.
Louis de Silvestre, also known as Louis de Silvestre the Younger, was a French portrait and history painter. He was court painter to King Augustus II of Poland, and director of the Royal Academy of Arts in Dresden. He is sometimes called "the Younger" to distinguish him from his older brother Louis Silvestre the Elder, drawing-master to the Dauphin.
The Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon in Dresden, Germany, is a museum of historic clocks and scientific instruments. Its holdings include terrestrial and celestial globes, astronomical, optical and geodetic devices dating back to the 16th century, as well as historic instruments for calculating and drawing length, mass, temperature and air pressure.
The Galerie Neue Meister in Dresden, Germany, displays around 300 paintings from the 19th century until today, including works from Otto Dix, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet. The gallery also exhibits a number of sculptures from the Dresden Sculpture Collection from the same period. The museum's collection grew out of the Old Masters Gallery, for which contemporary works were increasingly purchased after 1843.
The Skulpturensammlung is part of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. It is located in the Albertinum in Dresden.
The Portrait of Bernhart von Reesen is a portrait painting by German Renaissance master Albrecht Dürer. It depicts a man wearing a beret and holding a piece of paper against a red background. The oil on panel painting is dated 1521 and is in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister of Dresden, Germany.
The Johanneum is a Renaissance building, originally desingated as Stallgebäude mit Harnischkammer because it was constructed as the elite part of the electoral mews. It was the first museum of modern times built in 1586-1588 and is located at the Neumarkt in Dresden.
Flora or Saskia as Flora is a 1634 oil-on-canvas painting by Rembrandt, depicting his wife Saskia van Uylenburgh as the goddess Flora. It is held by the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
The Rape of Ganymede is an oil painting of 1635 by the Dutch Golden Age painter Rembrandt, depicting the myth of Ganymede. It is in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden.
The Deliverance of Arsinoe is a 1555–56 painting by Tintoretto, now in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden. It shows Arsinoe IV of Egypt fleeing from Alexandria after Julius Caesar arrived in the city in 48 BC and sided with Arsinoe's half-sister Cleopatra.
Dresden From the Right Bank of the Elbe Below the Augustus Bridge is an oil painting on canvas executed in 1748 by the Italian urban landscape painter Bernardo Bellotto. It depicts the view of Dresden from the right bank of the River Elbe, including the Dresden Frauenkirche, the Dresden Cathedral, and the Augustus Bridge. One year earlier, he painted another piece titled Dresden From the Right Bank of the Elbe Above the Augustus Bridge, looking in the other direction from above the Augustus Bridge. Both of the paintings are in the permanent collection of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister. The paintings have proved invaluable in rebuilding parts of the city that were destroyed during the World War II.
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