Virtual Museum Dresden

The Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden features numerous major works of art history. Therefore, it belongs to the world’s most renowned art collections. Its possession of top-class masterworks originated from the 15th to the 18th century causes the worldwide fame of the Old Masters Picture Gallery in Dresden.

Among the primary focuses of its holdings are Italian paintings of the Renaissance and Baroque as well as Dutch and Flemish painting originated mainly from the 17th century. A remarkable number of outstanding art works of famous German, French and Spanish painters is also presented in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister.

Furthermore, panels and canvases of the early Renaissance are shown – for example the recently restored Saint Sebastian of Antonello da Messina. I was able to find one of my favorite artists: Canaletto.

Visitors will be impressed by the spatial atmosphere given from over 700 paintings and their nearby arrangement in ancient golden frames (although one can find the space overcrowded with numerous paintings). Italian artwork is exhibited in rooms with deep red colored walls in comparison to Dutch and Flemish paintings which are shown in green surroundings.

In May 2007 the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister Dresden became the first virtual museum in Second Life, which is modeled on its antitype in real life true to scale. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (Dresden State Art Collections) cooperated with the Berlin-based company Second Interest AG – Virtual Business Solutions to launch this project with its extremely realistic character of representation.

The visitor has the possibility to get basic information on every painting just by clicking on it. Like in the real museum, he can also avail himself of an audio guide, sign the visitors’ book or buy something in the shop of the museum.

The virtual Dresden gallery is one of the most successful projects in Second Life. Daily about 100 or 150 visits are registered, and a community of friends of Dresden Gallery already has been established. Unfortunately the Dresden Gallery Sim experiences some heavy lag, so it is almost impossible to enjoy paintings smoothly.