Gift from the Bode descendants for the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Press release from 10/18/2006
One day after the grand opening of the Bode Museum, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin received a special gift today: Wilhelm von Bode's great-grandchildren from Germany and Switzerland presented General Director Peter-Klaus Schuster with a small majolica jug from the early Renaissance at the Bode Museum.
The jug comes from the private estate of Wilhelm von Bode, the founding director of the museum and former director general of the Berlin museums. It is described in his 1911 book "Die Anfänge der Majolikakunst in der Toskana" (The Beginnings of Majolica Art in Tuscany), in which he was the first to open up this area of the collection scientifically.
The family also sees the handover as the beginning of a joint commitment to Bode's legacy with the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. With this donation, they are continuing Bode's tradition. Even during his lifetime, he was not only an exceptionally knowledgeable and skilful museum and general director who was able to win over numerous collectors as patrons for his museums. He was also a patron himself: he repeatedly donated money for the continuation of new museum buildings and regularly donated works to the museums - for example Donatello's "Angel with Tambourine", another early Renaissance work, to the sculpture collection.