Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister at Zwinger - Dresden, Germany
Posted by: Anneke
N 51° 03.200 E 013° 44.067
33U E 411300 N 5656517
A renowned art museum at the Zwinger palace in Dresden.
Waymark Code: WM6BYA
Location: Sachsen, Germany
Date Posted: 05/11/2009
Views: 158
The Zwinger palace in Dresden is a famous monument of baroque architecture. With its balustrades decorated with sculptures of figures and vases, it attempts to merge architecture and sculpture into one subject. The palace, which consists of several pavilions and a central courtyard garden, was constructed during the reign of August the Strong (1711-28) as a place of leisure. Since that time, Zwinger has also always been housing art collections and a library. It was badly damaged during the bombing of Dresden in WW2 (the art works survived unharmed, being stored elsewhere), but underwent a massive reconstruction and was reopened in 1960.
At the present time, Zwinger hosts not only the art museum, but also a collection of porcelain, a small mathematic and physics museum, or a sculpture gallery. The art gallery is located in the Semper building, a relatively modern wing constructed by Gottfried Semper in 1847-55.
The majority of art works you can see in the museum were assembled in the days of August the Strong and his son, king August III (cca 1700-1760). In 1746, a large purchase of over a hundred paintings from the collection of the duke of Modena took place. Nowadays, the museum holds over 700 paintings, mainly from the High Renaissance and Baroque eras. They include masterworks such as Raphael's "Sistine Madonna" (1512/13), or Jan Vermeer's "Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window" (c.1659).
Name: Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister
Location: Theaterplatz 1, 01067 Dresden
Phone Number: 0351 4810426
Web Site: [Web Link]
Agency/Ownership: Public
Hours of operation: 10-18
closed on Mondays
Admission Fee: 7 euro, reduced price 4,50 euro
Gift Shop: yes
Cafe/Restaurant: yes
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