View of Dresden c. 1788

Curator: Here we have Adrian Zingg’s "View of Dresden." Zingg, born in 1734, captured this city scene with remarkable detail. What strikes you first? Editor: The sheer weight of the sky! It dominates the composition, lending the city below a sense of precarity and quiet resilience. Curator: I think that precarity is connected to the social conditions of the time, since the composition suggests the power dynamics at play, especially between the urban elite and the working class visible along the river. Editor: I see the river less as a social divide and more as a symbol of continuous flow—linking the past to the present. Water often represents purification and renewal. Curator: Perhaps, but the choice to focus on the figures in the foreground suggests a deliberate commentary on labor and urban development. Editor: I can concede that. Despite our different views, it’s interesting how an image can still invite reflection on our contemporary anxieties. Curator: Indeed, it shows how art endures, provoking new perspectives across time.