The old picture gallery was built on behalf of king Ludwig I. for the collections of the Wittelsbacher princes. It as the replacement of the gallery building in the court garden which had become too small. The long-stretched brick construction planned by Leo von Klenze in the style of the Italian Renaissance was inaugurated in 1836. The new picture gallery is called a "masterpiece of the proportion art", and many museum constructions like the museums in Rome, Brussels and Kassel have been built based on this architecture.
After war destructions during the second world war the reconstruction began in
1956 under the direction of Hans Döllgast.
Nevertheless, the collection remained unscathed,
because it had been evacuated as a precaution.
It encloses painting of all schools of the European painting of 14. - 18. Century. Duke Wilhelm IV ordered about
1530 history pictures which formed the store of the old picture gallery,
as for example Altdorfers "Alexander's battle".
Well worth seeing are famous pictures from Dürer (Four apostles, his selfportrait) and Dutch and Flemish works (among other things
Rembrandt, van Dyck). The old picture gallery disposes with more than 60 artworks also of one of the biggest Rubens collections.
Opening Hours: Tue. 10.00 a.m. - 8.00 p.m.; Wed. - Sun. 10.00 a.m. - 6.00 p.m.; Closed on Mon.
U-Bahn: U2
to Königsplatz, then Tram 27 to Pinakothek