The Berlin Gemäldegalerie

The Gemäldegalerie (German for “Paintings Gallery”) of the Berlin State Museums holds one of the world's finest collections of European art. Unlike other collections which have developed from the tastes of individual rulers, the Berlin Gemäldegalerie was built in a systematic way right from its foundation in 1830.

Consequently, the exhibition is the only one on Germany to include masterpieces from every period from the 13th up to the 18th century, by such masters as Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach, Hans Holbein, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens, Jan Vermeer – culminating in a full sixteen works by Rembrandt, one of the world's largest and most exquisite collections of his paintings. Other masters featured include Jan van Eyck, Pieter Breugel the Elder and his sons, Pieter Breughel the Younger and Jan Brueghel, Botticelli, Canaletto, Watteau, Thomas Gainsborough and many more.

Some 1000 works of art can be seen in the permanent exhibition, and they are arranged in an ingenious way to invite visitors to a captivating stroll through the development of art in both Northern and Southern Europe.

A New Vision of the World: Inventing the Renaissance

In the early 15th century, artists started to see the world with new eyes: for the first time, they tried to show it as it really was. New techniques were developed: in the Netherlands, Jan van Eyck perfected the use of oil paint, and in Florence, Filippo Brunelleschi showed how realistic perspective could be constructed. Most of all, humanism focused on "the genius of man" - the beginning of the modern world...

Discovering the Here and Now

Around 1420, the court of the Duke of Burgundy in today's Belgium was a hotspot for the best artists of the time. The “Flemish Primitives” like Campin, Rogier van der Weyden and especially Jan van Eyck revolutionized painting…
▶ The Berlin Gemäldegalerie ▶ Belgium

09:26

A Metropolis in Quest of the Ideal

Florence became the capital of the Renaissance. Masters like Filippo Lippi, Botticelli or Raphael were the first painters to be famous as artists rather than craftsmen. They were in search of ideal beauty – as seen in real humans...
▶ The Berlin Gemäldegalerie ▶ Florence

11:59

The Liberated Gaze

In the 15th century, Giovanni Bellini was the official painter of Venice. He was the first artist to use a natural phenomenon as a spiritual symbol. He, his brother-in-law Andrea Mantegna and his pupil Titian ushered in a new era of painting.
▶ The Berlin Gemäldegalerie ▶ Venice

07:49

The Renaissance in Central Europe

In the 15th century, the ideas of the Renaissance spread to Germany, then one of the most prosperous countries in Europe. The most important German contribution was Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. German artists excelled in printmaking in woodcut and engraving, and the greatest of all German Renaissance artists began his career in a printing workshop in Nuremberg...

A Genius conquers Europe

What story does the wood a picture is painted on tell us? Albrecht Dürer was the great Master of German Renaissance and, at the time, Europe‘s most famous artist. His masterworks include a portrait of the wealthy merchant Holzschuher that shows all his genius. ▶ The Berlin Gemäldegalerie ▶ Nuremberg

07:49

Fantastic Business

Can a portrait tell a whole story? It has to if it is to win a bride! Hans Holbein paints Georg Gisze - and tells us all about his life. Lucas Cranach is a wealthy entrepreneur as well as a master painter. His “Fountain of Youth“ tells of his dreams. ▶ The Berlin Gemäldegalerie ▶ London

07:19

Peasants, Flowers and Hell

A European dynasty: Pieter Brueghel started the business, painting peasants or the famously insightful “Dutch Proverbs”. His older son continued the tradition whilst Jan Breughel shows us just how much you can put into a simple bouquet of flowers… ▶ The Berlin Gemäldegalerie ▶ Belgium

05:30

The Baroque

After the beginning of the Reformation in 1517, the Catholic Church fought back to regain its former authority. As part of the Counter-Reformation, works of art were commissioned that used emotions to inspire the faithful. Architects and painters used used strong contrasts, movement, and dramatic effects to instill surprise and awe. This was the birth of the Baroque style.

A Master at the Courts of Europe

A true cosmopolitan, Peter Paul Rubens was fluent in five languages and a respected diplomat in addition to being the greatest painter of his time. Or rather, “designer-in-chief” of his own studio. He was called “The Homer of Painting” for a reason…
▶ The Berlin Gemäldegalerie ▶ Belgium

06:46

Revolution in Light and Shadow

Michelangelo Merisi was a drunkard and a thug accused of murder – but he was also one of the most brilliant artists of his time, known as Caravaggio. With his outrageously naturalistic and dramatic “chiaroscuro” style, he invented Baroque painting…
▶ The Berlin Gemäldegalerie ▶ Rome

09:49

Refinement in Vision

A group of painters from the city of Utrecht were influenced by Caravaggio; they in turn influenced one of their colleagues: Rembrandt. He one of the greatest painters ever - but he didn’t paint the celebrated “Man With the Golden Helmet”, as gamma rays reveal...
▶ The Berlin Gemäldegalerie ▶ Amsterdam

10:55

The New Image of the Burgher

The 17th century was the Golden Age of the Netherlands. Wealthy burghers bought art in unheard-of quantities. And the masters of Dutch genre painting like Frans Hals, Jan Steen or Jan Vermeer delivered - always including moral caveats in their pictures…
▶ The Berlin Gemäldegalerie ▶ Netherlands

08:28

Berlin

Until the 18th century, the city of Berlin was a rather minor provincial capital. In 1701 the new Kingdom of Prussia was formed with Berlin as its capital; in 1740 Frederick II ascended to the throne. He became known as Frederick the Great and under his patronage, Berlin and Potsdam grew into a European center of the Enlightenment and of the arts...