History Tales. Fakt und Fiktion im Historienbild explores the representation of history in relation to identity and nation. How do civilizations rise and fall, and how is human hubris allegorized? And what media transformations have the representations of myths, heroes/rulers and drastic historical events undergone from the 19th century until today with the invention of photography and film?

The historical picture is examined in the exhibition with a view to the Academy's historical collections as well as prominent loans from museums on the one hand and works by contemporary artists on the other. The ability of this image genre and its mass media variations to oscillate between fact and fiction and to make historicity itself the subject of the image is examined from today's perspective.