Elector does ba-roque, elector does ba-roll
We are in Dresden - sweltering yesterday evening when we arrived but thunderstorm last night seems to have cleared the air and today is just pleasantly warm with a breeze.
So far we have done the two main churches - and I now discover that Lutheran can do completely OTT baroque, at least, we gather that the altar of the reconstructed Frauernkirche (?sp?) was put together from existing fragments.
Also the Albertum, a good collection of 'modern', i.e. C19th and later art, with, perhaps counter-intuitively, quite a few Constables, as well as some atmospheric C D Friedrichs and Hammerskois (?sp).
Then to the former Electors' Residenz to look at the Old and New Green Vaults of their treasures. Augustus the Strong in particular clearly never saw a particularly OTT baroque artefact without going WANTZ!!! and probably cried out for ever more tops to go over. While there are some lovely things in the collection, there are far more which combine rare and pricey materials with exquisite craftsmanship in the service of conspicious consumerist kitsch. Some rooms leave one gasping for stark minimalism.
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