Zeven afbeeldingen van decoraties van het huis aan de Kurfürstenstrasse 55 in Berlijn, Duitsland before 1877

This page shows seven images of house decorations from Kurfürstenstrasse 55 in Berlin, Germany. Though the artist is unknown, it is reasonable to assume that the artist who made this page was working for an architecture firm. The designs recall the visual codes of classical antiquity with cherubs and eagles, and the female figures in profile. The appearance of such classicizing motifs in the urban landscape of Berlin would have contributed to the city’s sense of itself as a modern, cosmopolitan capital. It would be interesting to compare these designs with the visual output of the city’s art schools, such as the Prussian Academy of Arts, which was dedicated to training a new generation of artists in the skills and styles needed to decorate buildings, design monuments, and shape the public sphere. To understand this artwork better, we might research the history of urban planning in Berlin. The interpretation of art is always contingent on the social and institutional context.