Alte Pinakothek - 14th to 18th Century European Painting

The Alte Pinakothek houses one of the world's most important collections. On display are more than 800 paintings, masterpieces of 14th- to 18th-century European painting.

Precise, delicate early Netherlandish painting such as Dieric Bout's 'Pearl of Brabant' or Rogier von der Weyden's 'Columba Altarpiece' can be found close to early German painting including Albrecht Dürer's famous 'Self Portrait' of 1500 and the 'Four Apostles'. The scope and quality of the Munich collection of Flemish art by Rubens, Van Dyck and Jordeans makes it unique. The 'Canigani Holy Family' was the first painting by Raphael to be brought to Germany. The Alte Pinakothek also boasts masterpieces by Titian and Tintoretto, Rembrandt and Frans Hals, Murillo and Velazquez, Chardin and Boucher.

This superb and extensive collection makes it possible to explore the development of painting from the Middle Ages up to the end of the Rococo. This path is then continued through to contemporary art in the Neue Pinakothek and in the new Pinakothek der Moderne, due to open in 2002.

The collections of the Alte Pinakothek date back to the collecting zeal shown by the dukes, electors and kings of Bavaria from the House of Wittelsbach. King Ludwig I, the last and most important of the Wittelsbach painting collectors, commissioned the building from architect Leo von Klenze. It was opened in 1836, and became an exemplar for the classic museum architecture of the future.

Considerably damaged during the Second World War, the gallery was rebuilt by Hans Döllgast in 1957. However, rather than merely reconstructing the missing parts of the walls, these areas were replaced with bare brickwork, in order for them to remain as visible 'wounds'. Since undergoing extensive interior renovations in 1998, the Alte Pinakothek, with its new wall coverings, modern foyer, café and shop, is radiant once more.