The National Gallery’s collection can be admired since March 2008 in the Schwarzenberg Palace, where it found a worthy setting. Entirely renovated, this gigantic Renaissance Palace located on Hradčanské Square (in front of the Prague Castle), adorned with “diamond point” sgraffiti, is worth a visit in itself: Its spacious rooms are bathed in light under sculpted wooden ceilings or beautiful vaults painted with frescos, and the windows reveal unique panoramic views on the Petřín park, the ochre roofs of the Malá Strana and the Castle Square.
It became a major destination for visitors: here you can admire painting and sculpture masterpieces dating from one of the greatest periods for artistic creation in Bohemia.
Start from the top, on the second floor, with the Mannerist works by Hans van Aachen, Bartholomeus Spranger and the sculptor Adrien de Vries, which recall another golden age, that of the refined court of the Emperor Rudolf II at the turn of the 16th century.
On the first floor you can discover major Bohemian Baroque painters, often little known to foreigners: the first generation with Karel Škréta, with his plain and monumental realism, and Michael Leopold Willmann, with his dramatic style full of emotions. Then the blooming of the Baroque style dominated by the strong personality of Petr Brandl, whose sculptural figures of visionary elders with exacerbated emotions cannot leave anyone untouched. Works by the genius portrait painter Jan Kupecký and by Václav Vavřinec Reiner illustrate this period of triumphant Baroque.
When it comes to sculptures, the ground floor offers a fascinating confrontation between the work of two utterly different personalities: Mathias Bernhard Braun and Ferdinand Maximilan Brokoff. The twisted bodies, the mystic exaltation and the sense for drama of the one meet the sobriety, the realism and the intensity of curves of the other.
An amazing (re)discovery...
Schwarzenberg Palace
Hradčanské Náměstí 2 (Castle Square)
Prague 1- Hradčany
www.ngprague.cz
How to get there:
Tram 22, stop “Pražský Hrad”
Open every day except Mondays, from 10am to 6pm.
Audio guides are also available.
Information about the fees: here
