Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Murillo
's
Flight into Egypt
and
Holy Family with the Infant St John the Baptist
hang beside
a tender
Holy Family
by
Zurbarán
in room IV; across the room are two depictions of St
Andrew, one by Zurbarán and the gory
Martyrdom of St Andrew
by
Ribera
, together with
Velázquez
's
Tavern Scene
. Room III next door has five
Goyas
ranging from war scenes (
2nd
of May
) to portraits of the rich (
Señora Ceán Bermudez
) and humble (
The Knife-Grinder
).
Murillo's
Madonna and Child with Angels Playing Music
is a highlight of room VI, and
there's an annexe of Habsburg court portraits by Juan Martínez (room 1).
The Flemish Collection
Entering the adjacent
Flemish Collection
in room VII, Snyders' gigantic
Hawk in the Barn-
yard
and Van Valckenborch's nocturnal
Pilgrims Before a Forest
are overshadowed by room
VIII, where the serenity of
Van Dyck
's
St John the Evangelist
contrasts with the melodrama
of
Rubens
'
Mucius Scaevola before Porsenna
and
Jordaens
'
The Satyr and the Peasant
.
Room IX segues into the
Dutch Collection
with an array of
Brueghels
, from Pieter the
Elder's
Sermon of St John the Baptist
to Pieter the Younger's
Blind Hurdy-Gurdy Player
and
Jan's
Paradise Landscape
and
Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man
. A copy of
Bosch
's
The
Bacchus Singers
(featuring a man making himself vomit) hangs in room VII. The rest of the
Dutch collection is on the floor above, reached by stairs (or a lift) off room IX. There you'll
find the
Parable of the Hidden Treasure
by
Rembrandt
and his pupil Gerard Dou and other
works from his studio in room XVIII to the right, with portraits by
Hals
and wildlife scenes
by
Melchior de Hondecoeter Houdeleoter
in rooms XXVII and XXVI, off to the left.
The German Collection
Back on the first floor, in room X, the
German Collection
opens with
Angelika Kauff-
mann
's
The Wife of Count Esterházy as Venus
- a strumpet with her jewellery box - and
darkly Gothic works by
Cranach the Elder
, such as
Christ and the Adulteress
and
The La-
mentation, and the Holy Virgin in Prayer
by
Dürer
. In
Salome with the Head of St John the
Baptist,
Salome displays his head on a platter with the nonchalance of a hostess bringing out
the roast. Every emotion from awe to jealousy appears on the faces in
Holbein
's
Dormition
of the Virgin
, at the far end of the room. Don't overlook
Dürer
's
Young Man
with an enig-
matic smile, sharing room XIV with pictures by
Altdorfer
.
From Romanticism to Postimpressionism
For a change of mood, cross the lobby and enter
FromRomanticismtoPostimpressionism
,
where Room XII displays
Courbet
's wild landscapes and life-sized
Wrestlers
,
Corot
's
Re-
membrance of Coubrou
and
Rodin
's sculpture
The Brazen Age
. In the small rooms alongside
you'll find orchards and river-views by
Renoir
and
Monet
(room XIX),
Lady with a Fan
by
Manet
, a
Pissarro
Paris scene and
Toulouse-Lautrec
's
These Ladies
(room XX), as well as
a little-known
Gauguin
,
Black Pigs
, from his Tahitian period and more Monets (room XXII).
