Documents of Court Gifts Collected by Johann von Besser (1654-1729)

Appendix (pp. 121-73) translated from the German by Nicola Imrie, from the French by Pamela J. Warner, and from the Latin by Frederick J. McGuinness

Versailles and Dresden: Myths and Models

Notwithstanding some pioneering exhibitions and publications in recent years, art historians who study the reigns of Augustus the Strong and Augustus III typically focus their attention on the electoral court in Dresden, with little consideration of the broader Saxon-Polish realm or the royal court in Warsaw. Further, there is a proclivity to view the residence of the Sun King at Versailles as the primary model for the court of Augustus the Strong in Dresden. Hence, there is a tendency to marginalize or even ignore the probable influence of other royal seats in France, and beyond, that were known to the Saxon princes from their respective Grand Tours, or from state visits, as when Augustus the Strong was at the Prussian court in 1709 and 1728. Even if some have considered the silver furniture acquired for Saxony to be retardataire, as opposed to au courant, it seems there was an aspirational awareness of the representational significance of silver furnishings, whether French or German, that made such products timeless instead of antiquated. Indeed, silver was so emblematic of the wealth of the state of Saxony that miners were featured and celebrated in court festivities, as in the concluding event of the 1719 wedding, the Festival of Saturn