Unusual exhibition in the Dresden Green Vault

Return of a portrait after almost 200 years

The show "Admired, collected, exhibited. Disability in Baroque and Contemporary Art" deals with a virulent topic in courtly art, according to Winzeler. For example, Schweiker's portrait in the 19th century was "not judged as art, sorted out and sold" by the picture gallery, he reported. "We actually assumed that it no longer existed". When it unexpectedly appeared on the art market a few years ago and he found out about it, it had already been sold - but is now back in its old place, at least on loan from a private art collector from Essen.

In addition to samples of Schweiker's writings, the 50 or so exhibits also include depictions of Hante, the small court dwarf who was a slave, whom Saxony's legendary Elector Augustus the Strong had baptized and who achieved great renown. "Unusual-looking people were considered a miracle of creation back then," said Winzeler. Representations of disabled people and their art therefore found their way into cabinets of curiosities.