Page 182 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Germany

180  EASTERN GERM AN Y DRESDEN  181

Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister Girl Reading a Letter VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
(around 1659) This exquisite
painting, of a lone woman by the
The Dresden gallery of old masters contains what is considered window reading a letter, is among Practical Information
to be one of Europe’s finest art collections. Its core consists of the finest works by Jan Vermeer Theaterplatz 1. Tel (0351) 491
the canvases collected by the Wettin family from the 16th van Delft. 46679. Open 10am–6pm Tue–Sun;
limited access during works. d
century, but the majority of exhibits were purchased at the m = & ^ ∑ skd.museum
order of King Augustus II the Strong and his son Augustus III.
It was during that time that the gallery was moved to its own 2nd floor
premises – first to the Johanneum and later to its present
home in the Zwinger, built by Gottfried Semper in 1847–55.
Gallery Guide
Until 2018, during an overhaul of the gallery building, there
will be an interim presentation of about 400 paintings in the
eastern wing of the building. The areas shown in the key below
are not relevant during the restoration, but all of the paintings Feast of Love (around 1717)
are on display in the eastern wing. 1st floor The so-called fête galante is one
Dresden of many splendid paintings by
landscapes and Antoine Watteau, depicting a
portraits flirtatious group in a park.
Tribute Money (around 1516)
Titian depicts the theme of this
popular New Testament
parable in an unusual way,
zooming in on the figures of
Christ and a Pharisee who
Miniatures shows him a coin.

Ground
floor

Portrait of a Man (around 1633)
This highly expressive portrait, by
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez,
remained unfinished, yet it still
captivates with its powerful imagery.
Madonna and Infant Triptych (1437)
This superb small triptych depicting the Virgin Mary
Key with the Holy Infant, St Catherine and the Archangel
St Michael, is one of very few works signed by its
15th–17th-century Italian painting
creator, Jan van Eyck.
15th–16th-century German painting
Canaletto and scenes of Dresden
17th-century Dutch and
Flemish painting
17th-century French painting
Spanish painting
18th-century Italian and
French painting
German, Czech, Austrian, English Tapestry
and Swiss painting
room
Non-exhibition space
Main entrance . Sistine Madonna (1512/13)
. Self-Portrait with Saskia This enchanting picture of the Sleeping Venus (around 1508–10)
(around 1635) This magnificent painting Madonna and Child by Raphael This famous nude was probably painted
depicting Rembrandt with his wife, Saskia, owes its name to St Sixtus’s by Giorgione, but when he died of the
is considered by some to be a represent- Underground church in Piacenza, for which plague in 1510, his friend, Titian,
ation of the Prodigal Son of the Bible. vaults Pope Julius II had commissioned it. completed the work.
For hotels and restaurants in this area see pp494 and pp514–16

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