Part I, Berlin: Gemäldegalerie and Kunstgewerbemuseum in the Kultureforum.
7/22/09
*** I did not include the names of all of the paintings in the photos in this post, but if you would like to know who any of them are by please don’t hesitate to ask… I have photos of all of the labels and the book from the Museum.
Crivelli and me.
This is Teal's street
Everyone woke up at 8:30 this morning and ate breakfast. Teal made delicious eggs that we enjoyed with some fresh bread from the bakery. We left for the museum at 10:30 AM. Arrived at Gemaldegalerie around 11:30. The Gemaldegaleria opened in 1998 and comprises of the paintings that survived from WWII that were housed in the Bode Museum (West Berlin) and the Dahlem Museum (East Berlin). It holds a comprehensive survey of European Painting from the 13th through the 18th century. This was the first public museum and its formation was proposed in 1797 by archaeologist Aloys Hirt and was approved by King Friedrich Wilhelm III. Unlike other early dynastic collections, the initial focus of the Berlin collection was not High Renaissance and Baroque but rather Late medieval and Early Renaissance masters. The number of Flemish primitives and Early Renaissance paintings overwhelmed me. They were all incredible, they had pieces that I both recognized and were completely new to me. It took us about 3 hours to get through just the 13th-16th centuries of paintings in the collection. The best part about this was that I was not expecting it at all. I didn’t know I would see one of the earliest (1230 CE) German altarpieces in existence, or the great number of highlights that I distinctly remember from art history classes and personal research like Jan van Eyck’s “The Modanna in the Church” (1425 CE) and Rogier van der Weyden’s “The Altar of Our Lady” (1435 CE) and the ever so witty “Dutch Proverbs” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1559 CE). And, even better, we were allowed to take photos. Oh Joy! This meant that I could get up close and personal with all of these amazing paintings and take details if I so desired… I won’t need to buy so many books now (no… I will probably still buy them, who am I kidding).
EARLIEST German altarpiece
Rogier van der Weyden's Altar of Our Lady
Our Lady altar detail
Matt and one of the 5 other people in the museum enjoying Bruegel's "Dutch Proverbs"
Madonna in the Church, Jan van Eyck.
For scale of the Jan van Eyck's Madonna in the Church... and to see some bad pants.
By 2:30 PM we were getting hungry and entering galleries with less exciting paintings (18th century English) and we decided to step out of the Gallery for lunch before finishing off the Rembrandt and Vermeer rooms. We brought hummus, pita, olives, and fruit that we had purchased from the Turkish market yesterday. Unfortunately Matt inadvertently dropped his back pack which resulted in an explosion of hummus all over the bottom of his bag. Luckily over half the hummus was salvaged but Matt’s possessions and back pack smell of hummus now. I suppose there are worse things to smell like? We returned to the Gallery to finish up before heading over to the Kunstgewerbemuseum attached to the same complex. There were very few people in the museum, which I found rather strange. Granted it was a Wednesday, but it is summer and there were plenty of tourists in other parts of the city. There were only two very small tours going through the galleries. It was nice for us to be basically alone viewing such astounding paintings but it was a little disappointing that no one else cares to enjoy them.
Altarpiece.
Adoration of the Shepards.
Mini partrons.
Detail of details
A really awkward, theatrical adoration of the Magi.
Angel withhh...
flying baby with crucifix (what a wonderful addition to the annunciation, I know if I were Mary I would be much more excited if this came flying towards my womb when God announced he was like me to hold his child in my tummy)
A pretty significant Hans Holbien portrait.
Another Holbien portrait
Hornthorst portrait of a woman holding a portrait.
Daddi triptych.
earlier Italian triptych
He's hungry.
Lucas Cranach's "Jerome."
A particularly thoughtful John the Baptist.
An incredibly flattering portrait of Kaiser Karl...
An interesting diptych of St. Sebastian getting fired upon through the dividing piece of the frame in the middle.
Hans Baldung Grien and his strange nursing mother and child.
Bosch
Detail of Bosch
Great Bosch drawing
Another Bosch drawing..
Jesus with cherry fingers.
Cosimo painting with large rabbits.
One of my favorite Italian painters, Carlo Crivelli
A detail of his amazing details
A crucifixion with some flying blue angels
A detail of the gold work and the blue angel catching Jesus's blood in a chalice. How thoughtful!
A pretty fabulous David and Goliath
Goodies.
Fouquet painting with a patron and St. Stephen.
detail of the subtle bleeding head of the St. Stephen
Fra Angelico
Matt hanging out with some furry men
Gaddi triptych.
Giotto with..
Jesus holding the soul of the Virgin Mary? (role reversals!)
God, Jesus, and a big golden beach towel.
Triptych with some lady saints that had awful things done to them.
A Hans Memling.
Matt took this nicely composed photograph.
Fountain of Youth by Lucas Cranach
Only women allowed in the fountain... so the old men drag their old wives to the fountain and the become young again... horray!
Life of christ sequence.. similar qualities to the Russian Icons. Especially the calendar Icons.
I thought this was a particularly unique last supper.
Really awkward kissing going on. Quinten Massys.
A detail
What is that? Bee hive butter?
A Marinus Van Reymerswaele! I wrote a lot about him when I was a mellon intern at the RISD Museum.
Martha and Apollonia
Monster.
I'm really into this all gold background... I'm also really into this:
external womb babies
This is a super close up by Matt Long
Some Massoccio
Memmi Mary
Monkeys (for diversity)
Nero polyptych
A dramatic portrait that is probably meant to be a diptych.
I used this painting in a research paper where I spoke about Jewish dress in the 16th century. The conical hats are meant to signify that a figure is Jewish
This one too. More Jewish hats.
Stars and Swords.
Another St. Stephen.
Paul and Anthony. Greys on GOLD.
Close up.
Close up of the other. I really liked the treatment of the trees.
David Thonis (my former room mate) owns the painting that I did where I used these babies as inspiration. It is by Rubens and it is Jesus and John the Baptist as fat fleshy lumpy babies.
EXCITING SHAPE!
Just some really famous paintings. Including Petrus Christus's Portrait of a Young Woman.
Virgin and child
Adoration of the Magi.. with some knights.
Veneziano painting
Amazing drapery.
view of the gallery
Virgin and child with...
Angel trees.
Creepy baby.
Eyeball breast.
Detail...
Vivarini's Mary Magdalene. Hirsute!
detail of her levitating feet.
Robust!
Rogier van der Weyden's portrait of a woman with a winged bonnet.
Annnd Rogier van der Weyden's Altar of St. John.
Beheading John the Baptist detail
Photographing the masters.
This is what I look like when I am in a museum
PLEASE CONTINUE TO THE NEXT POST TO SEE THE REST OF MY DAY IN THE STAATLICHE MUSEUMS (meaning my photos of the Kunstgewerbemuseum and our exciting dinner adventure!)
Super site, and nice text.
Oro dell emissione verra posto in occasione del money transfer nei bilanci delle banche commissione per lo studio e l’elaborazione delle carte valori postali. Bollettino illustrativo con articolo clientela, Poste Italiane nell ottobre postepay Twin, le innovative carte prepagate Postepay, aderenti ai database dell anno questo riconoscimento hanno partecipato Intermediari finanziari Banche.
Banca spello
Berlin is just one of those cities that you need to visit over and over again. So much to see, I have been there now once for 5 days in total and still I want to go back. Nightlife is fantastic so many sights to visit and read about. Just ador Berlin in the spring.
Super info it is really. My teacher has been looking for this tips.
Hello! Thank You for so wonderfull photos!
If You remember, please, can you tell me about Trinity with meeting of Mary and Elizabeth ( painter? country? time?) (sorry but I really don’t remember if there is some special names for this iconographies in English)
I thought that it’s by Konrad Witz, but I’m not sure.
*You tell me=)
Hello Lyelye!
You are correct. It is from the workshop of Konrad Witz! It is entitled Der Ratschluß der Erlösung (The counsel of redemption) from 1444.
Thanks for reading!