List of sculptures at the Semperoper

The list of sculptures at the Semperoper gives an overview of the sculptures, reliefs, friezes and paintings that are arranged on the facade of the Semperoper .

The first Semperoper was built by Gottfried Semper from 1838 to 1841, it existed until 1869. The large seated figures Goethe and Schiller by Ernst Rietschel , as well as the large standing or seated figures Euripides, Sophocles, Shakespeare and Molière in the niches come from this building the vestibules of Ernst Julius Hähnel . The second Semperbau was built (under the guidance of Gottfried Semper) by his son Manfred Semper from 1871 to 1878; it was destroyed in 1945. Most of the building-related, decorative sculpture comes from his second son, Emanuel Semper. The third Semperbau was built between 1977 and 1985 and is largely based on its predecessor, also with regard to the sculptures.

The iconographic program refers to the myth of the ancient gods and heroes related to theater (drama and opera), in particular Dionysus with his entourage (including the four muses of theatrical art: Terpsichore , Thalia , Melpomene and Polyhymnia ) as well as Apollon with the three graces . This refers to the Apollonian-Dionysian antithesis of man. The Apollonian stands for the striving for limitation, for measure, shape and order, the Dionysian for the urge into intoxication, unbound and the abolition of limitations. Both principles are in opposition to each other and determine the actions of people and thereby the course of history.

This program can be seen in particular on the facade facing the Theaterplatz, which is particularly emphasized by the central porch ( exedra ), crowned by the panther quadriga with Dionysus and Ariadne by Johannes Schilling . The dome of the exedra is decorated with a mosaic-like painting to remind of Italian apses with mosaics. Here Apollo and the three Graces rule.

For the sculptures, mainly students of Ernst Julius Hähnel, Johannes Schilling and Ernst Rietschel were used. a. Gustav Adolph Kietz , Karl Heinrich Epler and Robert Diez .

The description of the sculptures according to the individual locations follows the information provided by Heinrich Magirius .

List of sculptures

The sculptures and busts are listed according to the facade of the building, with the names according to the cardinal points and the numbering from top to bottom or from left to right:

• North facade: N1 to N14 (facade on the Elbe side)
• East facade: O1 to O50 (facade on Theaterplatz)
• South facade: S1 to S14 (facade on the side of the kennel)
• West facade: W1 to W17 (rear facade)

image	Type and location no.	Name of the sculpture	Location	Artist
	East facade
	Sculpture O1	Lyre	on the gable of the stage building, center	Emanuel Semper
	Sculpture O2	Gripping	on the gable of the stage building, left	Emanuel Semper
	Sculpture O3	Gripping	on the gable of the stage building, right	Emanuel Semper
		Exedra	superior, middle part of the east facade
	Sculpture O4	Panther Quadriga with Dionysus and Ariadne	on the exedra	Johannes Schilling
	Frieze O5	Frieze with masks	Frieze on the pedestal of the panther quadriga on the exedra	Emanuel Semper
	Sculpture O6	Terpsichore (left)	on the exedra, left side	Robert Ockelmann
	Sculpture O7	Thalia (right)	on the exedra, left side	Georg Dillmann
	Zwickelfigur O8 / O9	sphinx	on the exedra, left and right above the arch	Robert Diez
	Sculpture O10	Melpomene (left)	on the exedra, right side	Rudolph Heinrich Hoelbe
	Sculpture O11	Polyhymnia (right)	on the exedra, right side	Karl Heinrich Epler
	Painting ( tondo ) O12	Marsyas with Syrinx (panpipe)	in the calotte of the exedra (left)	Paul Kießling
	Painting (tondo) O13	Three Graces : Euphrosyne , Aglaia and Thalia	in the calotte of the exedra (middle)	Paul Kießling
	Painting (tondo) O14	Apollo with Kithara	in the calotte of the exedra (right)	Paul Kießling
	Sculpture O15	Cartouche with royal crown "A" = Albert	below the dome, above the upper window of the exedra	Emanuel Semper
	Frieze O16	Frieze with theatrical masks	in the exedra in the area of ​​the cartridge	Emanuel Semper
	Frieze O17	Garlands with masks over the window	in the capital area (1st floor, left)	Emanuel Semper
	Frieze O18	Garlands with helmets and shields over the window	in the capital area (1st floor, left)	Emanuel Semper
	Frieze O19	Garlands with lyre and masks over the window	in the capital area (1st floor, left)	Emanuel Semper
	Frieze O20	Garlands with sacrificial implements over the window	in the capital area (1st floor, left)	Emanuel Semper
	Frieze O21	Garlands with masks over the window	in the capital area (1st floor, left)	Emanuel Semper
	Frieze O22	Garlands with shield and helmets over the window	in the capital area (1st floor, left)	Emanuel Semper
	Frieze O23	Garlands with shield and helmets over the window	in the capital area (1st floor, right)	Emanuel Semper
	Frieze O24	Garlands with masks over the window	in the capital area (1st floor, right)	Emanuel Semper
	Frieze O25	Garlands with sacrificial implements over the window	in the capital area (1st floor, right)	Emanuel Semper
	Frieze O26	Garlands with lyre and masks over the window	in the capital area (1st floor, right)	Emanuel Semper
	Frieze O27	Garlands with helmets and shields over the window	in the capital area (1st floor, right)	Emanuel Semper
	Frieze O28	Garlands with masks over the window	in the capital area (1st floor, right)	Emanuel Semper
	SculptureO29	Sophocles	left vestibule, above	Ernst Julius Hähnel
	Sculpture O30	Euripides	right vestibule, above	Ernst Julius Hähnel
	Keystone O31	Mask, left side	Keystone over the tunnel	Emanuel Semper
	Keystone O32	Mask, left side	Keystone over the window arch	Emanuel Semper
	Keystone O33	Mask, left side	Keystone over the window arch	Emanuel Semper
	Keystone O34	Mask, left side	Keystone over the window arch	Emanuel Semper
	Keystone O35	Mask, left side	Keystone over the window arch	Emanuel Semper
	Keystone O36	Mask, left side	Keystone over the window arch	Emanuel Semper
	Relief head O37	Angel head or genius	in the capital area above the Goethe and Schiller sculptures	Emanuel Semper
	Relief head O38	Angel head or genius	in the capital area above the Goethe and Schiller sculptures	Emanuel Semper
	Keystone O39	Mask, right side	Keystone over the window arch	Emanuel Semper
	Keystone O40	Mask, right side	Keystone over the window arch	Emanuel Semper
	Keystone O41	Mask, right side	Keystone over the window arch	Emanuel Semper
	Keystone O42	Mask, right side	Keystone over the window arch	Emanuel Semper
	Keystone O43	Mask, right side	Keystone over the window arch	Emanuel Semper
	Keystone O44	Mask, right side	Keystone over the tunnel	Emanuel Semper
	Sculpture O45	Shakespeare	left vestibule, below	Ernst Julius Hähnel
	Sculpture O46	Goethe	in front of the exedra, left of the entrance	Ernst Rietschel
	Relief O47	Poet before Aphrodite	at the base of the Goethe sculpture	Johannes Schilling
	Sculpture O48	Schiller	in front of the exedra, right of the entrance	Ernst Rietschel
	Relief O49	Poet before Zeus	at the base of the Schiller sculpture	Johannes Schilling
	Sculpture O50	Molière	right vestibule, below	Ernst Julius Hähnel
	North facade
	Sculpture N1 / N2	Zeus (left) and Prometheus (right)	on the balustrade of the Elbe-sided vestibule	Heinrich Bäumer
	Sculpture N3 / N4	Antigone (left) and Kreon (right)	on the balustrade of the Elbe-sided vestibule	Carl August Robert Härtel
	Sculpture N5 / N6	Medea (left) and Jason (right)	on the balustrade of the Elbe-sided vestibule	Hermann Hultzsch
	Sculpture N7 / N8	Bacchante (left) and satyr (right)	on the balustrade of the Elbe-sided vestibule	Carl Friedrich Echtermeier
	Frieze N9	Garlands with masks over the window	in the capital area (1st floor)	Emanuel Semper
	Frieze N10	Garlands with sacrificial implements over the window	in the capital area (1st floor)	Emanuel Semper
	Frieze N11	Garlands with lyre and masks over the window	in the capital area (1st floor)	Emanuel Semper
	Keystone N12	mask	Keystone over the window arch (Elbe-side underpass)	Emanuel Semper
	Keystone N13	mask	Keystone over the window arch (Elbe-side passageway)	Emanuel Semper
	Keystone N14	mask	Keystone over the window arch (Elbe-side passageway)	Emanuel Semper
	South facade
	Sculpture S1 / S2	Titania (left) and Oberon (right)	on the balustrade of the vestibule on the fence side	Robert Diez
	Sculpture S3 / S4	Stone guest (left) and Don Juan (right)	on the balustrade of the vestibule on the fence side	Heinrich Hermann Christian Möller
	Sculpture S5 / S6	Faust (left) and Mephisto (right)	on the balustrade of the vestibule on the fence side	Gustav Adolph Kietz
	Sculpture S7 / S8	Witch (left) and Macbeth (right)	on the balustrade of the vestibule on the fence side	Gustav Broßmann
	Frieze S9	Garlands with lyre and masks over the window	in the capital area (1st floor)	Emanuel Semper
	Frieze S10	Garlands with sacrificial implements over the window	in the capital area (1st floor)	Emanuel Semper
	Frieze S11	Garlands with masks over the window	in the capital area (1st floor)	Emanuel Semper
	Keystone S12	mask	Keystone over the window arch (underpass on the Zwingers side)	Emanuel Semper
	Keystone S13	mask	Keystone above the window arch (passageway on the Zwingers side)	Emanuel Semper
	Keystone S14	mask	Keystone above the window arch (passageway on the Zwingers side)	Emanuel Semper
	West facade
	Sculpture W1	Lyre	on the gable of the stage building, center	Emanuel Semper
	Sculpture W2	Gripping	on the gable of the stage building, left	Emanuel Semper
	Sculpture W3	Gripping	on the gable of the stage building, right	Emanuel Semper
	Sculpture W4 / W5	2 heads	on the roof of the backstage
	Sculpture W6	peace	on the roof of the backstage	Robert Henze (reconstructed by Christian Hempel )
	Sculpture W7	Saxon royal coat of arms	on the roof of the backstage	Emanuel Semper (reconstructed by Christian Hempel)
	Frieze W8	Garland frieze with portrait head Gottfried Semper	under the Saxon royal coat of arms	Emanuel Semper (reconstructed by Christian Hempel)
	Sculpture W9	justice	on the roof of the backstage	Robert Henze (reconstructed by Christian Hempel)
	Sculpture W10 / W11	2 heads	on the roof of the backstage
	Relief W12 / W13	Male head and girl head	in the upper part of the rear wall	Emanuel Semper (reconstructed by Hildegard Jahn-Wiegel )
	Relief W14 / W15	Head of an old man and head of a younger man with a lion's cap	in the upper part of the rear wall	Emanuel Semper (reconstructed by Hildegard Jahn-Wiegel)
	Relief W16 / W17	Head of an elderly man with a lion's cap and a woman's head	in the upper part of the rear wall	Emanuel Semper (reconstructed by Hildegard Jahn-Wiegel)

Web links

Commons : Sculptures (Semperoper)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Magirius, Heinrich: The Semperoper zu Dresden - Development, artistic equipment and iconography, Verlag Edition Leipzig, 2000, 328 pp.
2. ↑ Magirius, Heinrich; u. a .: Our opera house - guide through the Semperoper Dresden, Staatsoper Dresden, 1985, 80 pp.