The literary legacy of the Düsseldorfer Gemäldegalerie

This article explores a range of literary responses to the Düsseldorf picture gallery in the eighteenth century. It examines in particular the ways in which written accounts of experiencing the Düsseldorf collection reveal the contemporary understanding of its works of art and their modes of display. It investigates the ways in which texts bear witness not just to the art in the collection but also to the social interactions informing their representation to readers. Moreover, it charts an increasing sophistication in seeking an immediate access to the works in question, albeit one which is obliged to pass through the medium of print and, in Pigage and Mechel’s Catalogue raisonné et figuré, a trans-medial attempt to render an integral experience of visiting the gallery in both text and image.

Aesthetics · Art · Art gallery · Art history · Exhibition · Political science · Representation (politics) · Sophistication · Visual arts · Witness · Historical Art and Culture Studies · Historical Influence and Diplomacy · Law · Visual Culture and Art Theory