Götter, Helden und Verräter Das Historienbild um 1800

Götter, Helden und Verräter
Borne up by sentiment, historical painting was considered the most elevated genre of art well into the early nineteenth century. Staking a claim to morality as Schiller saw it—in the sense of having the ability to affect the spirit and intellect didactically—the drawings condense significant moments of religious, mythological material. Human emotions and deeds were turned into an artistic image of history, in the truest sense of the word. With the pictures assembled here, the Albertina unites outstanding works of art that mark the origins of what is today the most important collection of prints worldwide. Its founder, Prince Albert Casimir of Saxony, Duke of Teschen, was a collector with his finger on the pulse of the times. He was especially interested in drawings, studies, sketches, and large-format works on paper, acquiring the artworks directly, and often personally, from the studios of artists such as Jacques-Louis David, Anton Raphael Mengs, Antonio Canova, Angelika Kauffmann, Heinrich Friedrich Füger, and Johann Heinrich Füssli, or from the big Academy exhibitions of his era.