The Grüne Gewölbe in Dresden is renowned as one of the world’s foremost Renaissance collections. In 1560, the Elector August of Saxony began to install a collection in his Renaissance palace at Dresden; by adding naturalia and artificialia (natural wonders and examples of virtuoso craftsmanship) his son and successor, Christian I, turned it into a typical 16^th century Kunstkammer collection.

The Kunsthistorisches Museum Sammlungen  Schloss Ambras is showing around 65 loans from the Grüne Gewölbe, the Armoury and other holdings of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden; this is the first time these artworks dating from the reigns of August and Christian I are on show in Austria. They include examples of precious goldsmith work, goblets of Saxon serpentine, coral bowls and flatware, filigree ivories turned on a lathe and goblets made of nautilus shells or ostrich eggs. One of the show’s highlights is Giambologna’s signed bronze group “Nessus and Deijaneira” sent to Christian I in 1590 as a diplomatic gift by Grand-Duke Francesco I de Medici.

The Kunst- and Wunderkammer at Ambras Castle is one of the few Renaissance collections to have survived at its original location and in its original galleries. It was founded by a Habsburg, Archduke Ferdinand II, in the 1570s. In the show selected artworks from Ambras are presented together with the loans from Dresden, allowing these important collectors and connoisseurs to interact via their magnificent collections.

An exhibition organized by the Grüne Gewölbe and Ambras Castle