Berlin · Founded in 1830 · European painting from the 13th to the 18th century

The Gemäldegalerie in Berlin offers a scholarly journey through five centuries of European painting, from Giotto to Rembrandt and Caravaggio.

Opened as a public institution in 1830 in the Royal Museum in Schinkel, today Altes Museum, the Gemäldegalerie developed its collection from the outset according to a systematic reading of art history. After more than half a century of division between East and West Berlin, the ensembles were brought together at the Kulturforum in 1998. The route, almost two kilometers long, crosses seventy-two main rooms and presents approximately one thousand two hundred masterpieces. Giotto concentrates the drama of the Crucifixion, Caravaggio reverses the codes of allegory with Victorious Love, Dürer reverses the codes of allegory with L'Amour victorieux, Dürer pushes the portrait to striking precision and Watteau transforms a shop into a meditation on art and desire. The "Gemäldegalerie Berlin" selection notably compares Crucifixion of Berlin - Giotto and Victorious Love - Caravaggio. His reading favors the story.

In Berlin, the gallery functions as a history of painting constructed by the works themselves: schools, centuries and techniques respond to each other room after room.