Existing comment:
Triumphal arch with two obelisks
before 1705
Johann Heinrich Köhler
This ensemble by the goldsmith of Augustus the Strong is patterned after ephemeral festival architecture at the Dresden court. While the pyramidal obelisks and triumphal arches erected in the palace precinct for special occasions lasted only a few days, these miniaturized versions endured as a monument, kept safely in the Dresden Kunstkammer. The multiple busts of black Africans reflect Augustus's interest in the culture of the "exotic" world south of the Sahara. |