Gemäldegalerie, Berlin: 50 Masterpieces

The re-unification of Berlin has created the opportunity to display together all the painting collections of the Prussian state which date back to the times of Frederick the Great. Since 1998 this collection has been housed in a new picture gallery, part of the new Kulturforum complex. The collection is full of masterpieces including great works by Botticelli, Dürer, Cranach, Brueghel, Raphael, El Greco, Caravaggio and Gainsborough – and representative collections of German, Ductch, Italian, Flemish and Spanish paintings. The Gallery itself succeeds totally in displaying a diverse collection of old master paintings in a historically coherent manner – but even more in such a way that each painting is displayed to its best visual effect. This new work, written by the Director and Senior Curator, takes fifty major works in the collection. These are illustrated both with full page photographs and a wealth of details, and introduces and illuminates them with text that is both authoritative and fascinating.