At first glance, it appears as if a bone were resting on the plinth built from plywood — a thigh bone, or femur. This largest and strongest bone becomes increasingly porous and fragile with age. The sculpture by Isa Genzken (b.1948) is staged with deliberate ambiguity: she translates the bone into matt-silky bisque porcelain – a material that resembles bone and at the same time emphasizes its fragility.
Please note that the Porcelain Collection will be closed from 26.01.—06.02.2026 as well as from 09.03.–20.03.2026.
The interplay of strength and transience evident shows how profoundly Genzken engages with the human body. As in other works – for example, her self-portraits using X-rays – she shows the body not only as natural and transitory, but also as a culturally and historically shaped construct.
In the porcelain collection, Genzke's work is juxtaposed with a crucifixion group by Johann Joachim Kaendler, created in 1743. Genzke's sober, disenchanted perspective clashes with the idealized and spiritually charged depiction of Christ's body in the crucifixion group.Through the fragility of their material, both works speak to the tenuousness of human existence. While Genzken’s work is characterised by a conception of the body that is firmly grounded in the here and now, Johann Joachim Kaendler‘s Baroque imagery is centred around sacred exaltation and the salvific narrative of redemption. In this juxtaposition of the two works, the human body oscillates between profane reality and religious projection.
To strengthen the Catholic Church in Saxonyand to obtain the Polish crown, Frederick Augustus II of Saxony converted to Catholicism, as his father had done before him. The large crucifixion group by Johann Joachim Kaendler (1706–1775) must be considered an outstanding example of furnishings in a prayer room at the Dresden court. The renowned modeller at the Meissen porcelain manufactory and son of a Protestant pastor was commissioned in 1743 to create this large work. The group of figures, made entirely of porcelain, depicts the crucified Christ surrounded by three Roman guards. At his feet lies Mother Mary, who has fainted and is held by John. Joseph of Arimathea and Mary, the wife of Clopas, are deep in despair and mourning.
In the foreground, Nicodemus rushes forward; soon, he will bury Jesus. Mary Magdalene kneels in silent contemplation before the crucified Christ. Adam’s skull under palm trees on the one hand suggests the transience of human life, but on the other eternal life after death. The use of the precious material of porcelain, symbolising both purity and fragility, impressively underscores the message of death and transience.
