Adolph Menzel - Die Ruinen des Nymphenbades im Dresdner Zwinger - 1850

 

Constructed in the 1710s, the Nymphenbad is part of the Dresden Zwinger. Menzel had already been in the city on the Elbe in 1840 and was familiar with the architecture of the complex. However, when he visited again in 1850, he found a very different situation. The May Revolution of 1849 had taken a heavy toll on Dresden—pressed by Prussian troops, the insurgents set fire to the opera house, and the flames also spread to the Zwinger. Although the Nymphenbad had been in a state of disrepair for a long time, the ruined buildings of the adjacent wing must have left a lasting impression on Menzel.

This circumstance certainly explains why Menzel depicts the Nymphenbad as so ruinous and gloomy, with an awareness of its transience. Weeds almost completely cover the stone tiles on the ground. The walls, originally adorned with baroque ornaments, are barely discernible in the shadow of the setting sun. Just as the forces of nature triumph over man and his works, the highly political Menzel may also have foreseen the triumph of the emerging democratic aspirations over the existing system.

 Source: Hamburger Kunsthalle