Old Masters Picture Gallery - Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister –
Old Masters Picture Gallery
With master works including Raphael’s Sistine
Madonna, Giorgione’s Sleeping Venus, Correggio’s
Holy Night, Cranach’s St. Catherine Altar, Vermeer’s
Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window and
Bellotto’s views of Dresden, the Gemäldegalerie
Alte Meister enjoys a reputation that is international in scope. Other widely-known paintings by
such artists as Van Eyck, Dürer, Holbein, Rubens,
Rembrandt, Poussin, Claude Lorrain, Murillo,
Canaletto, Tiepolo, Raeburn and Graff lead visitors
to in-depth contemplation. Indeed, the collection
of the Gemäldegalerie is a rare treasure trove.
The collection is housed in the gallery building
next to the Zwinger. Rebuilt after the Second
World War, the structure was originally erected in
1855 following Gottfried Semper’s plans, and it
was one of the most important museum projects
in 19th-century Germany. The Gemäldegalerie
welcomes more than half a million visitors each
year – a number that is still on the rise.
Today’s building code and technological requirements have made a complete overhaul of the
building necessary: the required emergency exits
must be created, barrier-free access must be
ensured, serious structural-physical, climatic and
technical issues need to be corrected and the
infrastructure must be made more functional. In
the long run, both visitors and the artworks will
greatly profit from the renovation.
The Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and our
partner Sächsisches Immobilien- und Baumanagement SIB, who will carry out the stage-by-stage
renovation in the years to come, would like to
thank our visitors for their cooperation and understanding during the construction period. While
one half of the Semper Building will be modernized,
the other half will be in operation as a museum.
Raphael, The Sistine Madonna, c. 1512/13, Photo: Estel/Klut
To further increase the visitor experience and at the
same time facilitate a new encounter with familiar
works, a completely new hanging of the paintings
was devised in 2013. In the future, no visitor will
miss out on any of the collection’s key works. The
new museum circuit leading visitors through 23 halls
is based on the understanding that European art
history can be read as one integrated historical
narrative. The categorization into different schools
may reflect a traditional art historical principle but
it is not the only way of reading our artworks. In this
way, new focal points emerge, emphasizing, for
instance, the European portraiture of Dürer’s day,
altar works from around 1500, Mannerism, Caravaggism, European still lifes of the 17th century, or
art from the Age of Enlightenment. Comparisons
across national borders suggest themselves in ways
previously invisible at the Gemäldegalerie.
Official Sponsor
Sponsored by
In the tradition of the collection
of the House of Wettin A.L.
Visitor information
23 Sentimentalism and Enlightenment
22 European pastels
21 Italian vedute
20 European court art of the
18th century
19 European still-lifes
18 Netherlandish fine painting
17 Netherlandish genre painting
16 Bellotto’s Dresden
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Cranach
European Renaissance portraits
European Renaissance portraits
Venetian painting from
Giorgione to Titian
European court art c.1550
Italian Mannerism
Altarpieces and devotional
images from Dürer to Raphael
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15 Devotional images from Van Eyck
to Botticelli
14 European Caravaggists
13 The European Baroque from
El Greco to Poussin
12 The European Baroque from
El Greco to Poussin
11 Landscape from Bril to Brueghel
10 Altarpieces from Correggio to Murillo
9 Mythological history painting and still-life in Rubens’ circle
8 Biblical history painting and
portraits in Rembrandt’s circle
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Zwinger Courtyard
Opening hours
10 a.m. – 6 p.m., closed on Mondays
Admission Zwinger
(incl. Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters
Picture Gallery), Porzellansammlung (Porcelain
Collection), Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon)
10 Euro, concessions: 7.50 Euro
Groups of 10 persons or more: 9 Euro per person
Children under 17: admission free
Information and guided tour bookings
Tel.: + 49 (0) 351 - 49 14 20 00
Fax: + 49 (0) 351 - 49 14 20 01
[email protected]
www.skd.museum
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Illustrations: 1 Raphael, The Sistine Madonna, c. 1512/13 | 2 Albrecht Dürer, Portrait of Bernhard von Reesen, 1521 | 3 Correggio (Antonio da Correggio), Nativity (The Holy Night),
1522/30 | 4 Titian (Tiziano Vecelli), The Tribute Money, c. 1516 | 5 Jean-Etienne Liotard, The Chocolate Girl, c. 1744/45 | 6 Jan Vermeer van Delft, Girl Reading a Letter at an Open
Window, c. 1659 | Photos: Estel/Klut
Information correct as at March 2013, subject to alterations © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden