The Return of the PaintingsBaroque treasures in the Upper Gallery of the New Palace

After more than 30 years, the Upper Gallery in the New Palace is once again open to the public. The magnificent room displays five of the SPSG's six most important paintings – works that are part of Frederick the Great's original furnishings and have only rarely been moved or restored since they were inserted into the wall paneling in 1768.

It was only discovered in the 20th century that two of these paintings were by Artemisia Gentileschi. The Prussian king had presumably acquired the works without knowing that they were created by a woman. Today they are the focus of growing art-historical interest in Gentileschi's work, which had long been attributed to male artists.

The Baroque paintings by Guido Reni and Luca Giordano, also part of the gallery, have been little researched and largely unknown to the public. Today, they are among the central pieces in the collection.

Over the past six years, the paintings and their original frames have been extensively restored. This was made possible by financial support from third-party donors such as the Museum Barberini, the Rudolf-August-Oetker-Stiftung and the Annemarie Hilgemann Stiftung. The restoration not only brought back the original splendor of color, but also important new insights into the painting techniques and materials.

The works of Artemisia Gentileschi in particular were examined intensively in terms of art technology. The analyses provided detailed information on her individual style and made it possible to reclassify and date the works within her overall oeuvre. The two paintings exhibited in Potsdam originally came from the famous collection of the noble Farnese family and are among the few surviving works by Gentileschi in Germany.

The works by Guido Reni and Luca Giordano also tell exciting stories: Reni, one of the most sought-after painters of his time, developed his own idealizing style with great clarity of color and form from the Carracci's surroundings. Giordano, known as “Luca fa presto” because of his fast and virtuoso way of working, was active throughout Europe - his works bear witness to a world-class Baroque painter.