Page 117 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Prague

PR A GUE C ASTLE AND HR ADČ AN Y  115

contrast to the spiritual calm
of St Augustine. Two other
fine portraits are those of
Rembrandt’s Scholar in His
Study and Frans Hals’ Portrait
of Jasper Schade.
Also on display is a wide
assortment of paintings by
other, less-prominent, artists
who nonetheless represent
the enormous range and
quality of this period.
Spanish and French Art
(1400–1800)
French art on the second floor
is represented chiefly by the
17th-century painters Simon
Vouet (The Suicide of Lucretia),
Sébastien Bourdon and Charles
Le Brun. Spanish painting is
even less well represented,
but two of the collection’s
finest works are a haunting
Head of Christ by El Greco,
which is the only work by
this important artist on display
Don Miguel de Lardízábal (1815) by Francisco Goya in the Czech Republic, and a
noble half-length portrait of
16th-century Italian works on collection from the 17th the politician Don Miguel de
display, are some delightful century on the second floor Lardizábal by Goya.
surprises. These include St Jerome includes several major works,
by the Venetian painter, Tintoretto, notably by Peter Paul Rubens The Chinese Cabinet
and The Annunciation to the who, in 1639, sent two
Shepherds and Portrait of an paintings to the Augustinians After several years of difficult
Elderly Man by another Venetian, of the Church of St Thomas restoration work, this curiosity
Jacopo Bassano. There is also (see p127) in the Little Quarter. on the second floor is once
an expressive portrait by the The originals were lent to the again open to the public. The
Florentine mannerist, Bronzino, gallery in 1896 and replaced richly decorated little chamber
of Eleanor of Toledo, the wife of by copies. The violence and was part of the original
Cosimo de’ Medici. drama of The Martyrdom of furnishings of the Sternberg
St Thomas is in complete Palace, and was designed as an
Flemish and Dutch Art intimate withdrawing
(1400–1800) room away from the
bustle of the grand state
The collections of Flemish and rooms. In its plethora
Dutch art on the first and sec- of decorative styles,
ond floors are rich and varied, Baroque mingles with
ranging from rural scenes Far Eastern motifs and
by Pieter Brueghel the Elder techniques, which were
to por traits by Rubens and fashionable at the turn
Rembrandt. Highlights of the 18th century.
of the former include an The vaulted ceiling
altarpiece showing the features the Star of the
Adoration of the Magi by Sternbergs among its
Geertgen tot Sint Jans. Other geometric decorations.
early works of great interest Black lacquered walls
include St Luke Drawing the are embellished with
Virgin by Jan Gossaert (c.1515), cobalt blue and white
one of the first works of art medallions in golden
from the Netherlands to show frames, while gilded
the clear influence of the shelves once held rare
Italian Renaissance. The Eleanor of Toledo (1540s) by the painter Agnolo Bronzino Oriental porcelain.

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