SPECIAL EXHIBITION

Bella Figura

European Bronze Sculpture in Southern around 1600

6 February to 25 May 2015

Between 1570 and 1620 Southern Germany was one of the centres of international bronze art. Principal patrons of art such as the Fuggers and the Dukes of summoned to and chiefly Dutch artists who had gained their experience in the Florentine workshop of Gio- vanni Bologna, the court sculptor of the Medici. In a complicated and technically sophisticated bronze casting process, large-scale artworks such as fountain figures, garden sculptures, and fa- çade decorations were commissioned for courtly and urban representation. Statuettes entered into private collections as exclusive cabinet objects. Also, these artists were receiving substantial or- ders for bronze statues for tombs and altars. Works such as the Madonna on Munich’s Marian Column or the lions at the are still popular attractions in Munich to this day. One of the main themes of Mannerist bronze art was the nude, which was depicted in intricate poses and could be viewed from all sides. Mythological representations such as the god Mercury and the nude couple Mars and Venus as lovers were not only executed in small format but also in monumental fountain figures.

This exhibition opens up the chapter on to one of the most brilliant eras in Southern German art history in which art works of European importance were created. With approximately 80 master- piece bronze sculptures and about 25 drawings and prints, the illumi- nates the emergence of Mannerist bronze art in the 16th century in and its dissemination to northern Europe. The bronze sculpture’s success story will be demonstrated with works by Giovanni Bologna, Willem van Tetrode, Hubert Gerhard, Adriaen de Vries, Johann Gregor van der Schardt, Carlo di Cesare del Palagio, and Hans Reichle. Important museums and collections from all over Germany and from New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Vienna and London will be par- ticipating with first-class loans.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a richly illustrated scientific catalogue and a guide to the public bronze works in Munich and Augsburg.