Balthasar Permoser

Salzburg or Dresden, c. 1690/1700

Balthasar Permoser was among the protagonists of a great artistic period during which European sculpture evolved from late Baroque to Rococo This important female bust belongs to Permoser’s first period of activity at the court of Dresden.
The remarkable creation attests of the deep reception of Italian Baroque beyond the Alps and of the extraordinary interpretation by Permoser, who became known as “the German Bernini „. This creation of astounding sculptural quality is the subject of a hitherto unpublished essay by Eike D. Schmidt, A misterious smile, Balthasar Permoser’s Bust of a Woman rediscovered.