Old Masters I

The permanent exhibition Old Masters in the Schwarzenberg Palace presents selected key artworks from the Collection of Old Masters (Hans von Aachen, Petr Brandl, Matthias Bernard Braun, Lucas Cranach, Adriaen de Vries, Albrecht Dürer, El Greco, Hans Holbein, Jan Gossaert, also known as Jan Mabuse, Peter Paul Rubens, Bartholomaeus Spranger, Karel Škréta, Michael Leopold Willmann and others).

The display concentrates on the period between the 16th and 18th centuries and the pre-Renaissance tendencies in Gothic and Antiquity art as inspirational stimuli for Renaissance and Baroque art. The exhibition is conceived as a dialogue of the national and international impulses, influences and changes in the spirit of the dialectic of forms, styles and motifs. In dramaturgical terms, the display reflects the narrative aspects of European art from the Antiquity to the Enlightenment, as well as the historical context and timelessness of the masterpieces in an innovative installation. One section of the exhibition is dedicated to the artistic production in Bohemia during the Baroque period, led by prominent painters Karel Škréta, Petr Brandl, and the sculptor Mathias Bernard Braun.

The original entrance to the Schwarzenberg Palace from Hradčanské Square via the courtyard is restored. Three rooms on the ground floor are reserved for occasional exhibitions of artefacts from the National Gallery’s collections and two will serve for the Graphic Cabinets.

Author and Curator: Marius Winzeler
Collaborators: Tomáš Hladík, Martina Jandlová Sošková, Olga Kotková, Lucie Němečková, Andrea Steckerová, Marcela Vondráčková
Architects: AP Atelier – Josef Pleskot, Norbert Schmidt, Eva Vopátková
Graphic Designers: Studio Najbrt – Zuzana Lednická, Jakub Spurný

We now offer a joint ticket for the Old Masters I and Old Masters II expositions. The discounted basic admission for both expositions costs CZK 300, reduced admission CZK 200. You can buy the ticket at the NGP ticket offices in the Schwarzenberg and Sternberg Palaces.