Princely Splendor: The Dresden Court 1580-1620
Edited by Dirk Syndram & Antje Schermer
4to. pp. 320. profusely illustrated. chronology. bibliography. index. paperback (near fine). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, [2004].
Published in conjunction with an exhibition.
ISBN 10: 8837027206 / ISBN 13: 9788837027209
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Visitors to the Electoral-princely collections in Renaissance Dresden encountered room after room of treasures proclaiming the refined splendor of the court—exquisite gold and silver objects embellished with precious and semi-precious stones and exotic materials, ivory turnings, ebony furniture, clocks, automatons, and decorated tools. In the first exhibition on Dresden to be held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 25 years, Princely Splendor: The Dresden Court, 1580-1620, nearly 250 of these major works of art and precious objects—on loan from the Dresden State Art Collections (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden), and in particular the fabled Green Vault—will be on view. This exhibition will illustrate the richness of one of the most spectacular princely collections of Europe—the Dresden Kunstkammer—as it existed around 1600. Reflecting the broad range of the collections amassed by the Electors of Saxony during this period of unusual prosperity, the exhibition will also include rare arms and armour, paintings, and sculptures, including several bronzes by Giambologna.
The exhibition is made possible by Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis and the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation.