Monday 18 February 2013

Alte Pinakothek in Munich – Part 1


There are three Pinakothek museums in Munich, covering different art periods. The “Alte Pinakothek” covers the earlier period.




Sandro Botticelli


Lamentation of Christ (Ca. 1490) by Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510). Tempera on Wood panel, 140 x 207 cm

Sandro Botticelli was a painter from Florence. He studied with Fra Filippo Lippi. His most famous painting is the Birth of Venus, but this is a more somber theme and treatment. Lamentation of Christ was commissioned for the Pauline monastery in Florence.


Leonardo da Vinci


Virgin and Child (Ca. 1473) by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) – Oil on wood (62 x 47,5 cm)

Leonardo da Vinci, another great name from Florence, was young when he created this painting. Leonardo worked as pupil in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio.


Albrecht Dürer


Self-Portrait with Fur-Trimmed Robe (1500) by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) Oil on limewood, (67,1 x 48,9 cm)


Dürer painted this self-portrait when he was 28 years old. This is the first portrait known done this way: a full frontal view with no objects around the subject. He looks like a representation of Christ. The Latin inscription on the painting reads: "Thus I, Albrecht Dürer from Nuremberg, portrayed myself with characteristic colors in my 28th year."

Hans Holbein


St. Sebastian Altar; Central panel: Martyrdom of St. Sebastian (1516) by Hans Holbein d. Ä. (1465-1524)

Acquired in 1809 from the Jesuit church of St. Saviour in Augsburg, in the process of secularization.



Albrecht Altdorfer
Albrecht Altdorfer (1482-1538) was a German painter, engraver, designer of woodcuts and architect. Born around 1482, probably in Regensburg (Ratisbon).



Susanna and the Elders (1526) by Albrecht Altdorfer (1482-1538). Oil on Limewood, 74,8 x 61,2 cm


This is an amazingly detailed painting with many intricate details. It depicts of a biblical story from Daniel 13. The different scenes of the story are on the same canvas. A sketch of the work exists in Düsseldorf.


Raphael
Raphael was born in 1483 in Urbino. After training with his father Giovanni Santi, he became an assistant to Perugino in Perugia. In Florence, he studied in the workshop of Fra Bartolommeo, Leonardo and Michelang

   
The Canigiani Holy Family (Ca. 1505/06) by Raphael (1483-1520) - Oil on Poplar, (131 x 107 cm)
 

The Canigiani Holy Family (details)

Raphael used a pyramidal composition for the figures of the Holy family. The triangle figure works both as a visual unifier and as the symbol of the Holy Trinity. The relationship between the figures is interesting and creates some mouvement in a static composition. The groups of angels, which were over-painted in the late 18th century, have been restored in 1983. They participate to the balance of the entire composition.


Fra Bartolommeo


Adoration of the Child by Fra Bartolommeo


Rogier Van Der Weyden




Saint Luke drawing the Virgin by Rogier Van Der Weyden


The museum

Alte Pinakothek
Barer Straße 27
Eingang Theresienstraße
80333 München
Germany

Alte Pinakothek's Web site

Related articles

Neue Pinakothek in Munich

1 comment:

Lee Ann said...

I believe the Pinakothek also houses my favorite painting - St. George by Altdorfer. I can't even explain why that is my favorite, maybe the scale of the figures to the landscape. Thanks for sharing some of it's other wonders.