Skulpturensammlung

The Skulpturensammlung (English: Sculpture Collection) is part of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (Dresden State Art Collections). It is located in the Albertinum in Dresden.

The collection of the Dresden Skulpturensammlung ranges in age more than five millennia, from classical antiquity to the art of the Renaissance, Baroque, and Expressionism until the 21st century. Sculptures from the likes of Polycletus to Giambologna and Permoser, and from Rodin to Lehmbruck are included in the collection.

The origins of the museum can be traced back to the Kunstkammer founded in 1560. However, it was August the Strong who established the “Collection of Antique and Modern Sculptures” and turned Dresden into a centre of Baroque architecture and sculpture.

After the arrival of antiquities from Rome at the end of 1729, the collection was displayed in the palace in the Großer Garten, surrounded by masterpieces of contemporary sculpture. In 1786 the collection was rearranged and exhibited in the Japanisches Palais. After the archaeologist Georg Treu (1843–1921) took over as director of the museum in 1882, the collection particularly flourished. Over the three decades of his tenure, Treu instituted a systematic acquisitions policy to build up the collection. The Renaissance Zeughaus (Arsenal) on the Brühlsche Terrasse was converted for use as a museum and in 1889 the Antiquities Collection was able to move into the building, which was thereafter called the Albertinum. Treu continued the tradition of displaying antiquities alongside contemporary works. The collection was the first to acquire numerous works by Auguste Rodin and Constantin Meunier in Germany.

Although the Albertinum was partially destroyed in February 1945, most of the collection survived the Second World War, but for some large plaster casts. Almost all the original sculptures were taken to the Soviet Union, but were returned to Dresden in 1958. Following the restoration and refurbishment of the Albertinum, the Skulpturensammlung and the Galerie Neue Meister will only now display works from the Romantic period to the present day. The antiquities will be on view in display storerooms until they are able to move back into their old home in a few years’ time. The Osthalle (eastern wing) of the Semperbau was designed in the mid-19th century by Gottfried Semper specifically for the antique sculpture collection.

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Wikipedia