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The panorama displayes the baroque city of Dresden in its bloom time around 1756. A fantastic view over the city from the tower of the Hof-church.
The monumental panoramic painting “1756 Dresden” by the architect/ artist Yadegar Asisi is a homage to Baroque Dresden and the painting tradition of the city. For the first time, a single image shows a complete and historically substantiated view of the electoral metropolis as it may have appeared in the 18th century. In the especially remodeled DREWAG gasometer, a 105 meter long and 27 meter high panorama will present after Saturday, on December 9th views of a city whose face was previously known only in fragments. Tiny details can be seen even from a great distance: “1756 Dresden” is composed from 6000 different digitalized layers.
One million people were captivated already during the last years by the monumental panoramas created by the architect/artist, Yadegar Asisi. His newest work embraces one of the most glorious eras of the Saxon capital.
Dresden with her noble palaces and churches, grand burgher residences and, in the Italian village, country gardens – all of which Asisi had heard much about during his architectural studies in Dresden during the Seventies. “No one knew really just what that all meant. I thought then I could bring it all together,” says the Berlin professor. “The myth of Baroque Dresden is omnipresent – but how did the city, based on that myth, appear exactly? For me it's important to know from where we actually started.”
For almost two years, Yadegar Asisi researched the traces of the myth in archives and in libraries, pieced old maps together, photographed old surviving fragments and analyzed historical city views. An especially important source for him were the paintings by the Baroque veduta painter, Bernardo Bellotto, called Canaletto – with respect to the architecture and to the colors as the “patina” of electoral Dresden.
However, no Baroque painting could answer Yadegar Asisi's most important question: From which standpoint should the panorama open up? After two months of sketching, Asisi decided upon the tower of the Catholic Court Church at a height of 55 meters. From that position, the most important buildings in the new and old city districts were visible.
With all efforts towards historical authenticity, Asisi would like to be clear: “It is an attempt in capturing an entirety. Wherever there were no sources, I fell back on artistic freedom – but based on general historical research.” Yadegar Asisi already looks forward to an enthusiastic discourse among the citizens of Dresden, academics and visitors, that will surely be ignited by his own interpretation of the “German Florence”. “My image is an invitation for dialogue, especially with regard to the city's future urban development.”
Using self-made drawings and extracts from digital photos and with the help of a 3-D model, Yadegar Asisi composed his panoramic painting in the style of collage on a computer. His greatest achievement, however, lies in painting: through which he unified the separate pieces into a new, much larger whole. “1756 Dresden” is a homage to the city's rich painting tradition and especially to Bernardo Bellotto, who 260 years ago in 1747 first arrived in Dresden.
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