Kupferstich-Kabinett: The eight wonders of the world

The eight wonders of the world by Maarten van Heemskerck

The cabinet exhibition shows the most important work by the Dutch artist who was praised by his successors as the Dutch Raphael, “Raphael de la Hollande”. Heemskercks’s motives, which were turned into engravings by Philips Galle, coined the modern perception of the ancient wonders of the world. The Dresden Collection of Prints, Drawings and Photographs possesses an outstanding example of high quality of this rare sequence. With the help of important series of Marten de Vos or Antonio Tempesta, the importance of the topic in the Renaissance can be comprehended. Moreover, books, coins and medals give proof of this establishment of the visual vocabulary in art and culture.

Exhibition Site Residenzschloss

DATES 24/10/2012—16/01/2013

The Sponsel room of the New Green Vault is the ideal place for this exhibition: Heemskerck did not present the wonders of the world as austere reproductions of ancient buildings. He concentrated on more exemplary small-sized architecture as it was created in gold and silver smiths’ works of treasury art and was collected in European Kunstkammern such as the Green Vault. Heemskerck’s imaginative buildings remind the viewer of precious treasure boxes. Around 1600, they stood for glory, wealth and ambition of a past ancient pagan culture.

Kupferstich mit den Pyramiden — **Philips Galle nach Maarten van Heemskerck, Die acht Weltwunder, Blatt 1: Die Pyramiden von Ägypten, 1572** Kupferstich, 212 x 259 mm (Blatt)

The exhibition accompanies the inventory of the graphic art after Marten van Heemskerck at the Dresden Collection of Prints, Drawings and Photographs. In three bulky folders in the depots almost all of the 599 works comprising print oeuvre have survived. For the first time, this manifold holding will be made digitally accessible. The exhibition presents one of the most precious items of this collection.