Barth's Michelangelo - Carl Gottfried Pfannschmidt (1819 - 1887) "Servant of Beauty

In the course of three trips to Italy, he studied Renaissance art and in particular the technology of fresco painting. Together with Peter von Cornelius, he brought this technique to new heights and played a major role in designing the murals of the Altes Museum on Berlin's Museum Island. His sketches of the frescoes destroyed during World War II, which are shown in the exhibition, give a unique impression of the monumental murals of the Berlin Museum. Other outstanding works by the artist include his paintings in the Schwerin Castle Chapel and the mausoleum of the Prussian king at Charlottenburg Castle. He also designed stained glass windows for Magdeburg Cathedral and churches in Stuttgart and Berlin. While the work was still in progress in Schwerin, the people of Barth were able to engage the "theologian among artists" for the work in 1857. The painting of the choir room, which was carried out in the course of the redesign of St. Mary's Church under Friedrich August Stüler, today represents the most extensive surviving stock of Pfannschmidt frescoes. In 2021, these were extensively cleaned and conserved. Preliminary studies and graphics for the works in Barth and Berlin, as well as nature and landscape studies show the extensive oeuvre of this "servant of beauty". The exhibition and catalog were created in close cooperation with the Mühlhausen museums, which, as the city of his birth, were able to provide the essential loans and initiated the project on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of his birth. In Barth, the work of the artist can be experienced in the museum and in St. Mary's Church thanks to the cooperation between the parish of St. Mary and the city of Barth. With over 110 works, the special exhibition is the most extensive Pfannschmidt work show after Berlin in 1888.