Neues Palais in park Sanssouci, Potsdam 1860 - 1880

Curator: Good morning. We're standing before a stereo print by Hermann Selle, dating from about 1860 to 1880, showing the Neues Palais in Potsdam. Editor: It strikes me immediately as overwhelmingly formal and monumental, almost oppressively symmetrical. The muted sepia tones only amplify that feeling of austere grandeur. Curator: Indeed. The photographic format emphasizes depth, doesn’t it? Let's focus on the structure itself. See the repetitive patterns in the fenestration and the string course? Note also the rhythm established by the dome and smaller pavilions. The carefully placed trees offer a counterpoint to the architectural severity. Editor: Those dome shapes above, and the sculptures aligned at the top of the building also call to mind the sun, and even planets. Such iconography tends to symbolize absolute power and even divinity. This Neue Palais clearly embodies these concepts, likely a display of Prussian authority during that time. Curator: Precisely. The composition presents us with an exercise in axial symmetry; there's a mirroring of elements from left to right. It allows a very balanced viewing experience. Even the horizon is held firmly in place by the architectural mass. Editor: Yet this visual order perhaps attempts to contain the volatile sentiments arising as Prussia consolidated its empire. That relentless symmetry, almost robotic, becomes a way to regulate perceived threats from outside influences by constructing an external projection of national and internal "harmony". I cannot ignore that there are no figures present in this landscape... is this truly harmonic? Or simply static and oppressive? Curator: A compelling consideration of its impact on the human element, or lack thereof. Note too, the relationship between the interior and exterior volumes; the facades function almost as screens, offering depth and drawing your attention to receding planes within planes. Editor: Thank you. Observing such historical architecture always triggers associations for me around authority, order and sometimes stifling societal regulation... But of course the sun is always just a symbol in itself -- there are shadows in every visual or symbolic harmony we find in the Neues Palais or other displays of "power". Curator: An important distinction, especially as we view it through a contemporary lens. It underlines, as always, the power of seeing, examining and contextualizing historical imagery from every possible viewpoint!