"The Seven Wonders of the World" from the Russian Academy of Fine Arts Museum in Saint Petersburg. Karl Friedrich Schinkel's only extant Dioramas and their Influence on his Art

Abstract

The article examines the newly-discovered series of dioramas 'The Seven Wonders of the World' painted by Karl Wilhelm Gropius after Karl Friedrich Schinkel's sketches. Around 1848, Gropius sold them to Andreas Leonhard Roller, a decorator and the first machine operator of the Imperial Theatres in Saint Petersburg, along with 'The Panorama of Palermo' painted by Eduard Biermann, also based on Schinkel's sketch. The panorama and the seven dioramas were displayed in the same rotunda. The panorama was later devastated in a fire that engulfed the whole building, but 'The Seven Wonders' fortunately survived. Since the late 19th century they have been kept in the Russian Academy of Fine Arts Museum in Saint Petersburg, though hitherto ascribed to another artist. The article aims at establishing new attribution of the paintings, tracing for the first time the history of their showing and reception in Russia in the mid-19th century (on the basis of Saint Petersburg newspapers of the time and archival materials). The article also discusses the way they were exhibited in Germany and Russia, thus contributing to the debate on their definition (whether they should be called perspective-optical paintings or dioramas), and finally reveals their influence on Schinkel's later artistic projects. The last point is of special importance as these are the only surviving dioramas of Schinkel known so far, thus providing a unique opportunity to assess the artistic qualities of these highly contested works of art.