Nature and Idea. This prominent figure of German Romanticism in more than 200 paintings and drawings by Carus himself and by well known his contemporaries.
Nature and Idea. Carl Gustav Carus was a physician and painter, philosopher and scientist. A friend of Alexander von Humboldt, he exchanged letters with Goethe and made drawings with Caspar David Friedrich. The exhibition presents this prominent figure of German Romanticism in his entirety and highlighting the special role he occupied for art and science in his day. Alongside more than 200 paintings and drawings by Carus himself and art works by well known contemporaries of his such as Caspar David Friedrich and Johan Christian Dahl, medical instruments, anatomical specimens, exhibits from the world of natural history and anthropology, as well as texts by Carus will all also be on view. The themes of 'nature' and 'ideas' thus signify the poles between which Carus the universalist moved. At the heart of his work was a multidisciplinary concept which celebrated 'art as the pinnacle of science' and served as a model alternative to the trend towards specialization that arose in the early 19th century.