Alte Pinakothek
The Alte Pinakothek (Old Pinacotheca) is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses one of the most famous collections of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pinakothek refers to the time period covered by the collection—from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century. The Neue Pinakothek covers nineteenth-century art, and the recently opened Pinakothek der Moderne exhibits modern art. All three galleries are part of the Bavarian State Picture Collection, an organization of the Free state of Bavaria.
When it opened in 1836, the Alte Pinakothek was the largest museum in the world and structurally and conceptually well advanced through the accommodation of skylights for the cabinets. Even the exterior of the Pinakothek clearly stands out of the castle-like museum type common in the early 19th century. It is closely associated with the function and structure of the building as a museum. Thus the building became a model for new galleries in Saint Petersburg, Rome, Brussels and Kassel. The museum building was severely damaged by bombing in World War II but was reconstructed and reopened to the public in 1957.
More than 700 paintings are permanently on display in the Alte Pinakothek, including works by
Leonardo da Vinci (Madonna of the Carnation, circa 1475), Albrecht Dürer (Self-Portrait with Fur-Trimmed Robe, 1500), Raffael (Canigiani Holy Family, 1505/6), Lucas Cranach the Elder (The Golden Age, circa 1530), Peter Paul Rubens (The Fall of the Damned, circa 1621), Rembrandt (Self-portrait, 1629), among others. A highlight is the Rubens Hall with ist paintings over six meters high.