Works from German museums at Reformation exhibition in United States

Munich (epd). German museums have sent many artworks to an exhibition in the United States to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. On 20 November, the Los Angeles County Museum (LACMA) opened the show “Renaissance and Reformation. German Art in the Age of Dürer and Cranach”, Martin Schawe told the Protestant press service epd. He is deputy general director of two major Munich art collections (Alte and Neue Pinakothek) and manager of the latter. This museum is contributing Old Masters to the show, along with the Berlin state museums and the Dresden state art collections. “We have sent works to Los Angeles by big names in painting from the Dürer age, e.g. Dürer himself, Cranach and Baldung,” said Schawe.

Bringing the Reformation to life in the USA

The goal is to allow the Reformation period to come to life for visitors in the United States. Schawa said that one of the paintings on display was “Mother of Sorrows” by Albrecht Dürer. In all, the exhibition is showing more than 120 works - paintings, drawings, prints and wooden sculptures. The show will not be repeated in Germany though. “When the pictures come back from Los Angeles in March they will return to their original galleries and museums. We can allow them to go on tour to one place, but that is all – we don’t want to put them under too much strain,” Schawe commented.