Rona and Paul at the gemaldegalerie

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This user gallery has been created by an independent third party and may not represent the views of the institutions whose collections include the featured works or of Google Arts & Culture.

We've braved lines and crowds at many of the world's most renowned museums, but Berlin's premier collection of Old Masters is an oasis of serenity, bursting with treasures you can ponder as long as you like. Moment for moment, I enjoyed this collection much more than the vastly more famous Rijksmuseum.

The Dutch Proverbs, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1559, From the collection of: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
The Flemish master wove 112 proverbs into this little lost world any northern European would have recognized then. A favorite: "pissing against the moon" (chasing after a lost cause).
And speaking of little painted worlds, I feel I could touch all the details in this one--that gleaming sleeve, those petals, the tools of the merchant's trade.
Venus with the Organ Player, Titian, around 1550, From the collection of: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Portrait of a Young Woman, Petrus Christus, around 1470, From the collection of: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Why is it that the most bizarre fashion trends engender so much pride in the wearer?
Adam and Eve in paradise (The Fall), Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1531, From the collection of: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Profile Portrait of a Young Lady, Antonio del Pollaiuolo, 1465, From the collection of: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
What holds my eye here is the contrasting textures. The embroidery dazzles next to that skin white and flat as parchment.
The Madonna in the Church, Jan van Eyck, around 1438, From the collection of: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
The Three Musicians, Diego Velázquez, around 1616, From the collection of: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
The monkey seems to know this is a dissolute bunch.
Portrait of a Woman with a Winged Bonnet, Rogier van der Weyden, around 1440, From the collection of: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
I wouldn't want that thing on my head, but what a pleasure to observe how brilliantly it's been painted. Those sculptural folds, that transparent patch were the skin shows through!
Jacob wrestling with the Angel, Rembrandt, around 1659, From the collection of: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
I think to be human is to wrestle with whatever you call God. That's what Rembrandt captures here.
Minerva, Rembrandt, 1631, From the collection of: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Rembrandt, Rembrandt, everywhere...
Self-Portrait with Velvet Beret, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, 1634, From the collection of: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Some write memoir; others paint self-portraits. Rembrandt painted nearly 100. Here, at 28, he looks proud but a little uncertain, as if sensing tumult ahead.
Portrait of Hendrickje Stoffels, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, around 1656, From the collection of: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Rembrandt's longtime lover and model, whom he couldn't marry for financial reasons, was banned from communion for "committing the acts of a whore" with him. Such wisdom and resignation in her face.
The Man with the Golden Helmet, Rembrandt (circle), around 1650, From the collection of: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Vermeer, that celebrant of light and beauty, never missed an opportunity to drive a moral home. Nose deep in her glass, this woman is being led astray.
Malle Babbe, Frans Hals, around 1633, From the collection of: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Hals has grown on me over the years, as much for his compassion as for his famously bold brushwork. One of his sons was deemed dangerous and sent to an asylum, where the artist met this subject.
Cupid as Victor, Caravaggio, around 1601, From the collection of: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
The bad boy of Western art (a murderer, no less) depicts Cupid as one of his kind, but so gleeful in his mischief.
Credits: All media
This user gallery has been created by an independent third party and may not represent the views of the institutions whose collections include the featured works or of Google Arts & Culture.
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