Franz Krüger - Parade on the Opernplatz in Berlin [1824-30]

Franz Krüger - Parade on the Opernplatz in Berlin [1824-30], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Krüger (Grossbadegast, September 10, 1797 - Berlin, January 21, 1857) depicted a panoramic view of the Prussian “via triumphalis” with total topographic accuracy, showing a parade of the sixth Brandenburg Kürassierregiment (dragoons) led by the grand duke, later to be Tsar Nicholas I. He is seen at the head of his troops riding towards King Friedrich Wilhelm III, who salutes in his plumed hat, positioned on horseback opposite the Neue Wache (surveillance building). 

Contrary to the conventions governing the composition of works depicting historical events, the painter has positioned the monarch on the very edge of the scene. Neither the princely protagonists nor the parade itself are at the center of attention. Instead it is the representatives of bourgeois Berlin who occupy the pavement area in the foreground, as if showing themselves off on an open-air stage. He was much more concerned to represent the multiplicity and vitality of the social and intellectual life of Berlin. 

[Oil on canvas, 347 x 249 cm]