LOS ANGELES, CA.-The close partnership between the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles is long-standing and is periodically given renewed impetus. Two major works from the Dresden Skulpturensammlung have recently been integrated into the permanent exhibition of the Getty Villa. They are the sculptures known as the “Large Herculaeum Woman” (40 – 60 AD) and the “Small Herculaneum Woman” (30 – 1 BC), which once adorned the theatre at Herculaneum. They were discovered in 1711 and in 1736 King August III purchased the marble statues for Dresden. Ever since, they have been centrepieces of the famous antiquities collection which is at the heart of the Dresden Skulpturensammlung.

They will be on display in the Getty Villa until October 2008 and whilst there they will act as ambassadors for the Albertinum in Dresden. The Albertinum as a museum is intimately associated with the Skulpturensammlung, which was established there in 1894 by the collection’s long-time director, Georg Treu. His museum concept, whereby sculptures ranging from antiquities to contemporary works were displayed together, along with a large collection of casts, was regarded internationally as exemplary. Ivan Tsvetayev, an important Moscow academic, corresponded and exchanged ideas with Treu over several decades, and based his planning and installation of what is today the Pushkin Museum on the information and inspiration that he obtained from Dresden. Tsvetayev’s intention was “to build a little Albertinum in Moscow”, thus clearly expressing the model character of the Dresden museum.

At the same time, the presence of the “Herculaneum Women” in the permanent exhibition of the Getty Villa heralds the forthcoming new Albertinum. It is only because this building is currently undergoing complete restoration and refurbishment, including the addition of an audacious and outstanding architectural feature – a two-storey bridge spanning the inner courtyard and accommodating the storeroom and workshops, that it is possible for the precious sculptures to be loaned for such a long period. Apart from their involuntary sojourn in the Soviet Union between 1945 and 1958, they have not left Germany since 1736.

The Skulpturensammlung is using the period of closure of the Albertinum for intensive research and restoration work, partly in collaboration with other institutions. The “Herculaneum Women” have been restored in the Antikensammlung (antiquities collection) of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and research has been conducted as part of a project on the Dresden classical sculptures funded by the Ernst von Siemens Art Foundation and in cooperation with the Getty Museum and the Getty Research Institute. An extensive catalogue recently presented in Los Angeles deals comprehensively with the role of the statues for the excavation of the Vesuvian cities, since they were the first finds from Herculaneum. A number of articles discuss the significance of these sculptures for the establishment of critical archaeology, the Greek works on which they were modelled and the reinterpretation of these Greek models in the Roman imperial era, as well as the aura that has surrounded these statues in Dresden since the 18th century. By the time of the reopening of the Albertinum the catalogue will also be available in German. And the next ancient statue, an enigmatic colossal male figure, is already on its way to Los Angeles in order to be restored and researched just as thoroughly as the Herculaneum Women.

Cooperative projects like these are of benefit to both institutions. For Los Angeles, they endorse the achievements and legitimacy of good museum work which enables research to be conducted far from the Mediterranean countries where classical art originated and makes this art accessible to a broad public. Dresden, on the other hand, benefits from the restoration and research work that are thus made possible, as well as from the ideas that arise for new approaches to presenting its own antiquities collection.

It is a well-known fact that it is hard for museums to purchase on the art market new works which are known to be legitimate and not the result of illegal excavations. In this situation, the model of long-term loans gives museums the opportunity to present to the public interesting aspects of classical art that go beyond their own holdings, as well as promoting exchange between researchers and restorers and at the same time contributing to the protection of the archaeological sites in the Mediterranean region.