Alte Pinakothek
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The Alte Pinakothek (Old Pinakothek) is an art museum situated in the Kunstareal in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world. The name (old Pinakothek) aludes to the time period covered by the art — the Neue Pinakothek covers 19th century art and the recently opened Pinakothek der Moderne exhibits modern art, all galleries are part of Munich's "Kunstareal" (the "art area").
History
The collection was begun by William IV who ordered important contemporary painters to create several history paintings. Elector Maximilian I acquired paintings especially of Albrecht Dürer. Maximilian's grandson Maximilian II Emanuel purchased a lot of Dutch and Flemish paintings when he was Governor of the Spanish Netherlands. After the reunion of Bavaria and the Palatinate, the galleries of Mannheim, Düsseldorf and Zweibrücken were moved to Munich, in part to protect the collections during the wars which followed the French revolution. With the secularisation many paintings from churches and former monasteries entered into state hands.
Ludwig I of Bavaria collected especially Early German, Dutch and Italian paintings and ordered Leo von Klenze to erect the gallery. The museum galleries were designed to display Rubens' "Last Judgment", one of the largest canvasses ever painted. Very modern in its day, the building became exemplary for museum buildings in Germany and all of Europe after its inauguration in 1836, and thus became a model for new galleries in Rome, St Petersburg, Brussels and Kassel. The museum building was severely damaged by bombing in WWII but was reconstructed and reopened to the public in the late 1950s. Unfortunately the ornate, pre-war interior has not been restored.
Collection
The museum houses an expanded collection of several thousand of European paintings from the 13th to 18th century. Especially its collection of Early Italian, Old German, Old Dutch and Flemish paintings belongs to the most important in the world.
More than 800 paintings are exhibited.
- German paintings 14th–17th century:
Among many others the Pinakothek shows works of
Stefan Lochner ("Adoration of the Christ Child by the Virgin (The Nativity)"),
Albrecht Dürer ("
The Four Apostles") ("Paumgartner Altar") ("Self-portrait in Fur Coat"),
Albrecht Altdorfer ("The Battle of Issus"),
Cranach ("Lamentation Beneath the Cross"),
Holbein ("St. Sebastian Altar; Central panel: Martyrdom of St. Sebastian"),
Matthias Grünewald ("SS. Erasmus und Maurice"),
Michael Pacher ("Altar of the Church Fathers"),
Hans von Aachen ("The Triumph of Truth"),
Adam Elsheimer ("The Flight into Egypt"),
Johann Liss ("Death of Cleopatra")
- Dutch paintings 15th–18th century:
One of the most impressive collection worldwide especially for early Netherlandish paintings with masterpieces for example of
Rogier van der Weyden ("Columba-Altar"),
Dieric Bouts ("Ecce Agnus Dei"),
Hans Memling ("The Seven Joys of the Virgin" ),
Lucas van Leyden ("Virgin and Child with Mary Magdalen and a Donor"),
Hieronymus Bosch ("Fragment from the Last Judgment"),
Rembrandt van Rijn ("The Deposition") ("The Holy Family"),
Frans Hals ("Portrait of Willem Croes"),
Pieter Lastman ("Odysseus and Nausikaa") and
Gerard Terborch ("The Flea-Catcher (Boy with His Dog)")
- Flemish paintings 16th–18th century:
The collection contains masterpieces of painters like
Pieter Brueghel the Elder ("Harbour Scene with Christ Preaching"),
Jan Brueghel the Elder ("Harbour Scene with Christ Preaching"),
Peter Paul Rubens ("Rubens and Isabella Brant in the Honeysuckle Bower") ("The Fall of the Damned") ("The Big Last Judgment"),
van Dyck ("Self-Portrait") ("Susanna and the Elders"),
Jacob Jordaens ("Satyr with Peasants") and
Adriaen Brouwer ("Village Barbar's Shop"). The Rubens Collection is the largest one worldwide.
- Italian paintings 13th–18th century:
The Italian
Gothic paintings are the oldest of the gallery, among them
Giotto's famous "The Last Supper", then all Schools of Italian
Renaissance and
Baroque Painting are represented with works of
Fra Angelico ("Entombment of Christ"),
Sandro Botticelli ("Lamentation of Christ"),
Fra Filippo Lippi ("The Annunciation"),
Raffael ("
The Canigiani Holy Family"), ("
Madonna Tempi"),
Leonardo da Vinci ("Virgin and Child"),
Tizian ("Vanity") ("Charles V"),
Tintoretto ("Christ in the House of Mary and Martha"),
Guido Reni ("The Assumption of the Virgin"),
Tiepolo ("The Adoration of the Kings"),
Francesco Guardi ("Regatta on the Canale della Guidecca"),
Canaletto ("Piazetta in Venice") and others.
- French paintings 16th–18th century:
In spite of the close relationship of the
Wittelsbach to France it is the second smallest section with works for example of
Claude Lorrain ("The Expulsion of Hagar"),
Nicolas Poussin ("Midas and Bacchus"),
François Boucher ("Madame de Pompadour") ("Reclining Girl"),
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin ("Woman Cleaning Turnips"),
Maurice-Quentin de la Tour ("Mademoiselle Ferrand Meditating on Newton"),
Claude Joseph Vernet ("Eastern Harbour at Dawn") and
Jean-Honoré Fragonard ("Girl with Dog").
- Spanish paintings 16th–18th century:
Though this is the smallest section all masters are represented, such as
El Greco ("The Disrobing of Christ"), de la Cruz ("Infant Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain"),
Velazquez ("Young Spanish Gentleman"),
Jusepe de Ribera ("Saint Bartholomew"),
Zurbarán ("The Entombment of St. Catharine of Alexandria on Mount Sinai") and
Murillo ("Baggar Boys Eating Grapes and Melon"). The paintings of
Francisco de Goya were moved into the
New Pinakothek.
External links
Gallery
Image:Albrecht Altdorfer 001.jpg|Albrecht Altdorfer"The Battle of Issus"
Image:Adam Elsheimer The Flight into Egypt.jpg|Adam Elsheimer "The Flight into Egypt"
Image:Raffael 032.jpg|Raffael "Madonna Tempi"
Image:Tizian Vanity.jpg|Tizian "Vanity"
Image:Rembrandt 200.jpg|Rembrandt van Rijn "The Sacrifice of Isaac"
Image:Gerard ter Borch d. J. 012.jpg|Gerard ter Borch "The Flea-Catcher"
Image:Anthonis van Dyck Self Portrait.jpg|van Dyck "Self Portrait"
Image:Peter Paul Rubens 105.jpg|Peter Paul Rubens "Rubens and Isabella Brant in the Honeysuckle Bower"
Image:Infantin Isabella Clara Eugenia von Spanien 1599.jpg|Juan Pantoja de la Cruz "Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia"
Image:Bartolomé Esteban Perez Murillo 004.jpg|Murillo "Baggar Boys Eating Grapes and Melon"
Image:Nicolas Poussin (1594 - 1665) Midas and Bacchus.jpg|Nicolas Poussin "Midas and Bacchus"
Image:Marie-Louise O'Murphy (1737-1818) painted by Francois Boucher (1703–1770).jpg|François Boucher "Declining girl" (Marie-Louise O'Murphy (1737-1818)
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