Jewel Room, Grünes Gewölbe, Dresden, Germany, 2010
C-print
Edition of five
Available in two sizes: 37 x 40" and 71 x 77"
December 5, 2022
This dazzling composite photograph by Raїssa Venables captures the Jewel Chamber in The Green Vault (Grünes Gewölbe) in Dresden, Germany, which holds the largest collection of jewels in Europe. In 1723 Augustus the Strong embarked on what was then an unprecedented endeavor: constructing a series of Baroque galleries in which his vast collection of jewels and jewelry could be presented to the general public. These treasures have been on almost continuous display for the last 300 years, making The Green Vault one of the oldest museums in the world. The Green Vault was heavily damaged during the bombing of Dresden in World War II and three of the eight original rooms were destroyed (the collection had already been relocated for safekeeping). This photographic work was made in 2010, only four years after the historic rooms were reopened to the public, displaying the collection in the opulent 16th century rooms where they were first presented.
Venables created this image by combining more than a dozen photographs she made in the wondrous space, creating a panoramic image that renders the Jewel Room itself as a kind of gleaming and multifaceted gem.
