Triumphal Arch with Obelisks in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2020

Triumphal arch with two obelisks
before 1705

Johann Heinrich Köhler


Object Details

Title: Triumphal arch with two obelisks

Artist: Johann Heinrich Köhler

Date: before 1705

Culture: German, Dresden

Medium: Silver (gilded), gold, enamel, cameos, gemstones

Dimensions: Height of triumphal arch: 7 7/8 in. (20 cm)
Height of pyramidal obelisks: 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm) each

Classification: Metalwork-Gold

Credit Line: Grünes Gewölbe, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden


This ensemble by the goldsmith of Augustus the Strong is patterned after ephemeral festival architecture at the Dresden court. While the pyramidal obelisks and triumphal arches erected in the palace precinct for special occasions lasted only a few days, these miniaturized versions endured as a monument, kept safely in the Dresden Kunstkammer. The multiple busts of black Africans reflect Augustus’s interest in the culture of the "exotic" world south of the Sahara.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/759685