After Dresden suffered heavy bombardment in the Seven Years’ War, the ruins of one of the city’s largest churches, the Kreuzkirche, had to be demolished. The painter Bernardo Bellotto was among those who witnessed this poignant scene in July 1765, commemorating it that same year in The Demolition of the Ruins of the Kreuzkirche.
Francesco Guardi recorded the first hot air balloon flight in Venice on April 15, 1784, in his painting The Balloon Flight of Count Zambeccari. Mistrusting this new invention, the Venetians cautiously constructed a floating launch platform on the open water of the lagoon in case the balloon were to crash—but it soared into the sky, watched by a crowd of astonished spectators.
A special audio tour, produced by the Getty Museum, features readings of first-person accounts written by eighteenth-century eyewitnesses who were present at some of the events depicted.
After its presentation at the Getty Museum, Eyewitness Views will travel to the Minneapolis Institute of Art from September 10 through December 31, 2017, and to the Cleveland Museum of Art from February 25 through May 20, 2018.
At the Getty, the exhibition is curated by Peter Björn Kerber, assistant curator in the department of paintings at the Getty Museum. He is the author of the richly illustrated book, also called Eyewitness Views: Making History in Eighteenth-Century Europe, and published by Getty Publications in conjunction with the exhibition.
The Getty will offer several public events related to the exhibition, including tours and lectures.
The exhibition has been co-organized by the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. It is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.