Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Rooms radiate from the football-field-size central foyer. The following highlights some of
the key canvases, but you'll likely find your own favourites as you explore the dozens of
galleries, many of them beautifully lit by muted daylight.
East Wing: German, Dutch & Flemish Masters
The exhibit kicks off with religious paintings from the Middle Ages but moves quickly to
the Renaissance and works by two of the era's most famous artists: Albrecht Dürer and Lu-
cas Cranach the Elder. A standout in Room II is Dürer's
Portrait of Hieronymus Holz-
schuher
(1526), a Nuremberg patrician, career politician and strong supporter of the Re-
formation. Note how the artist brilliantly lasers in on his friend's features with utmost preci-
sion, down to the furrows, wrinkles and thinning hair.
One of Cranach's finest works is
Fountain of Youth
(1546) in Room III, which illustrates
humankind's yearning for eternal youth. Old crones plunge into a pool of water and emerge
as dashing hotties - no need for plastic surgeons! The transition is also reflected in the land-
scape, which is stark and craggy on the left and lush and fertile on the right.
A main exponent of the Dutch Renaissance was Peter Bruegel the Elder who here is rep-
resented with the dazzling
Dutch Proverbs
(1559) in Room VII. The moralistic yet humor-
ous painting crams more than 100 proverbs and idioms into a single seaside village scene.
While some point up the absurdity of human behaviour, others unmask its imprudence and
sinfulness. Some sayings are still in use today, among them 'swimming against the tide' and
'armed to the teeth'.
