- Gemäldegalerie
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German“Picture Gallery”art museum in Berlin, possessing one of the top collections of European paintings from the 13th to 18th centuries. Together with the Museum of Decorative Arts, the Art Library, the Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings), the New National Gallery, and the Museum of Musical Instruments, the Gemäldegalerie, one of the National Museums of Berlin, is located in the Kulturforum Potsdamer Platz.The Gemäldegalerie first opened in 1830 as part of the Royal Museum, with its core holdings coming from the collections of Frederick William and Frederick the Great (Frederick II). But the extraordinarily high calibre of the museum's collection came largely through the efforts of gallery director Wilhelm von Bode (Bode, Wilhelm von), who oversaw acquisitions from 1890 to 1929, greatly boosting the museum's collection and stature. Much of the building and more than 400 large paintings were destroyed during World War II, and the collection was subsequently divided between East and West Berlin. In 1997 the entire collection was reunited in a new building specifically designed to house these paintings.On display are some of Europe's finest masterpieces, which represent every important period spanning five centuries. Major artists include Jan van Eyck (Eyck, Jan van), Raphael, Johannes Vermeer (Vermeer, Johannes), Peter Paul Rubens (Rubens, Peter Paul), and many others. Two dominant displays showcase Italian painting from the 13th to 16th centuries and Netherlandish painting from the 15th to 16th centuries. German masters from the Gothic through Renaissance periods include Konrad Witz (Witz, Konrad), Albrecht Dürer (Dürer, Albrecht), Hans Baldung-Grien (Baldung-Grien, Hans), Lucas Cranach (Cranach, Lucas, the Elder), and Hans Holbein the Younger (Holbein, Hans, the Younger). Sixteen paintings by Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) are displayed separately in an octagonal room.
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Universalium. 2010.
