Picture gallery of Prague Castle. Spanish Hall and Picture Gallery of Prague Castle Museum of Medieval Torture Instruments

The Spanish Hall and the Picture Gallery of Prague Castle house works of art that were formerly part of the collection of the Rudolf Gallery. This collection was created at the end of the 16th century by Emperor Rudolf II, a true connoisseur of painting.

During the reign of Rudolf II, significant changes were made to the area and the northern wing was built. On its ground floor there were court stables, the western part of which was already used by the Picture Gallery, and the Spanish Hall was created above them for the collection of sculptures. The name of this ceremonial room has no direct relation to Spain. The hall was named after the emperor's favorite Spanish horses. The Rudolph Gallery occupied the top three floors of the northern wing and was intended to house the imperial collections.

Rudolf II was an intelligent and enthusiastic, but withdrawn and eccentric person. He did not like to engage in politics and the direct responsibilities of the ruler of the state, but he had a passion for the occult sciences and was known as a generous philanthropist and patron of the arts. The emperor collected paintings, obtained rare specimens for his Kunstkamera, collected minerals, and encouraged the research of alchemists. The monarch also loved thoroughbred horses.

Spanish hall

Construction of the Renaissance Spanish Hall (Španělský sál) took place in 1602–06. The work was supervised by the architect Filippi. The hall is impressive in its size - length 43 m, width 21, height 12. A number of columns were installed in the center of the room, which supported the painted ceiling. The wall frescoes were painted by Hans Vredeman de Vries.

In the Baroque era, the hall was rebuilt: the columns were removed and the ceiling was made vaulted. Later, architects K.I. Dientzenhofer and A. Lurago raised the level of the vault by three meters, making it straight, decorated the ceiling with stucco, and created a new luxurious parquet floor.

Baroque portico in the garden On the bastion

Under Maria Theresa, the façade of the Spanish Hall was decorated in the Baroque style. A portico was added on the side of the bastion garden. In 1836, oak parquet was laid in the hall again, and eight huge mirrors were mounted on the walls.

A wedge-shaped corridor was created along the Spanish Hall in the second half of the 18th century. In 1865-1868. In connection with the coronation of Franz Joseph I, which, by the way, did not take place, the hall was reconstructed for the last time. Allegorical sculptures by Vigne were installed: Industry, Science, Trade and Art. The appearance of the hall as a whole has been preserved to this day since 1868.

Gallery of Rudolf II

Prague Castle Picture Gallery (Obrazárna Pražského Hradu), photo fisherbray

The premises of the Rudolfova gallery (Rudolfova galerie) were built according to the design of the architect D. Gargioli before the Spanish Hall - in 1597–98. The entrance to the gallery is on the ground floor in the north wing. You can go through the lobby of Karnak - under the stairs leading to the State Rooms. The gallery premises during the latest reconstruction were designed by Borek Šipek, who served as the chief architect of Prague Castle since 1992.

The gallery was founded by Rudolf II at the end of the 16th century. During the life of the emperor, his collection consisted of about three thousand different exhibits. It contained paintings by many great painters; The collection of rarities included a unique copy of the Satanic Bible, which existed in one copy, and a “magic lantern” - the predecessor of the modern film projector. After Rudolf's death, the richest collection was gradually dismantled and sold by his heirs. So to Vienna as royal property of the Habsburgs, when the residence of Emperor Matthias II was moved there, many objects of art were transported; some were sold at auctions for ridiculous amounts of money (in 1782, Dürer’s “Feast of the Rosary” was sold for 1 guilder, Titian’s “Madonna” was bought for 2 guilders). Most of the exhibits were captured by the Swedes in 1648 and taken from Prague.

For almost three centuries, the collection of the Rudolf Gallery has been inexorably declining. It was replenished only once. Archduke Leopold Wilhelm bought more than 500 paintings from the collection of the Duke of Buckingham for his brother, Ferdinand III, in Antwerp in 1650. These were works by Rubens, Fetti, Poussin, Rembrandt and others. But works of art continued to be regularly exported to Vienna. Only paintings in poor condition remained in Prague, which were placed in storage or transferred to the Society of Domestic Friends of Art, founded in 1796, for temporary use.

Only in the 20th century, after the emergence of the Czechoslovak state, with the support of the Masaryk Foundation, the collection again began to be replenished with works of national art of the Czech Republic from the 19th century.

Prague Castle Picture Gallery

In 1965, the Prague Castle Picture Gallery (Obrazárna Pražského Hradu) was opened to house the masterpieces of the collection, which traditionally continued to be called Rudolph's. Now its collection includes more than 4,000 exhibits, but only a small part is on display - about four hundred paintings and drawings.

The most valuable works of the Rudolf Gallery are “The Toilet of a Young Woman” by Titian, “The Flagellation of Christ” by Tintoretto, “The Assembly of the Gods of Olympus” by Peter Paul Rubens. The exhibition features paintings by Hans Aachen, Domenico Fetti, Spranger, Veronese, Bassano, and other masters. The authorship of some paintings was established through scientific analysis.

Entrance to the gallery from the II courtyard of Prague Castle.

See current information on ticket prices.

Prague Castle Picture Gallery
Pražský hrad, 119 08 Praha 1, Czech Republic
hrad.cz

Take tram number 22 to the Pražský hrad stop. Turn left (cross the road) and go along U Prašného mostu street, cross the Powder Bridge. Enter the II courtyard of Prague Castle.

How do I save on hotels?

It’s very simple - look not only on booking. I prefer the search engine RoomGuru. He searches for discounts simultaneously on Booking and on 70 other booking sites.

The famous Prague Castle Art Gallery (Obrazarna Prazskeho hradu) contains an extensive collection of works of art dating back to the reign of Rudolf II, a great art lover who, in his time, turned Prague into the cultural center of Europe.

The art gallery was opened to the eyes of curious visitors in 1965 and since then it has already undergone reconstruction several times. The gallery is located in the northern wing of the New Palace, in a room that was previously used as the stables of Emperor Rudolph II, where he kept his beloved Spanish horses. The gallery still displays the remains of the first Church of the City, founded by Prince Borivo I in the 9th century and was discovered during reconstruction.

The permanent exhibition of the Prague Castle Art Gallery offers visitors 107 of the best paintings and 3 statues, selected from more than 4,000 works of art of Prague Castle. The oldest works in the collection have come down to us from the time of Rudolf II, although only a few works have survived. The exhibition displays works collected over the centuries.

Among the artists whose works are exhibited in the Prague Castle art gallery, you can find Adrian de Vries (copy of the bust of Rudolf II), Titian (The Dressing Room of the Young Lady), Rubens (Collection of the Olympian Gods), Guido Reni (The Centaur Nessus Abducting Deianeira ), master Theodoric, Paolo Veronese, Czech Baroque artists Jan Kupetsky and Petr Brandl, as well as many others.

There are many museums in Prague - the Dvorak Museum, Smetana Museum, the Museum of Old Bohemian Art (at Prague Castle), the National Technical Museum, the Prague Jewish Museum, the National Museum, the Military History Museum, the Prague Museum of Decorative Arts, European Art in the National Gallery of Prague, etc. .d.

If you are not a fan of museums, or if you are only in Prague for a short time, we recommend that you at least visit the National Museum, where you can explore the ceremony hall.

Free museums

A large number of museums and galleries in Prague follow the tradition of open days, when entry fees are waived or reduced to a nominal amount. All museums affiliated with the National Gallery open their doors on the first Wednesday of each month, and the National Museum and its associated museums in Prague are open to everyone on the first Monday and Thursday of each month, respectively. Free days are noted in brochures and guides. Children between six and 10 years old are often admitted to exhibitions for free.

The best museums in Prague

(temporarily closed down for renovation)

The National Museum is the largest museum in the Czech Republic, which constantly exhibits the following collections of exhibits: Prehistory of the Czech Republic, Moravia and Slovakia; Mineralogy and petrography, paleontology; Zoology and anthropology - human bones also speak, Osteological collection (Mammalian skeletons). Sometimes there is a long-term exhibition of the Department of Numismatics - Orders and insignia of European countries in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Address: Wenceslas Square 68, www.nm.cz
Opening hours: during low season – daily from 10 am to 6 pm; in summer - daily from 9 am to 5 pm; The first Tuesday of every month is a day off.
Admission is free on the first Monday of every month, and 100 CZK on other days.

Museum of Communism

This museum is the only one of its kind in Prague, but very popular among Prague tourists. It shows the atmosphere of the communist era in Czechoslovakia and especially in Prague. The setting of the exhibitions represents the life, dreams and reality of communism, as well as the nightmares of interrogations and imprisonment. The museum exhibits photographs, videos, audio recordings and images, as well as texts in several languages.

Address: Prague 1, Savarin Palace, on the ground floor, Na příkopě 10. www.muzeumkomunismu.cz

Opening hours: daily, including holidays from 9 am to 9 pm.

National Technical Museum

This is a scientific exposition of both objects from the field of acoustics and astronomy, as well as vehicles, as well as instruments that measure time.

Opening hours: Tue-Fri from 9 am to 5 pm, Saturday, Sunday and holidays - from 10 am to 6 pm; On the first Friday of every month, admission is free in the afternoon.

Wax Museum in Prague

exhibits more than 60 wax figures of outstanding personalities from Czech and world history, politics, science, culture and sports. The museum consists of two branches.

Opening hours: daily from 9 am to 8 pm. www.waxmuseumprague.cz

Address: Celetná 6 (Wax Museum of Czech History)

Museum of Medieval Torture Instruments

Heretics, witches and enemies of the state were tortured and burned at the stake. This may seem creepy, but the Inquisition and torture are also part of European history. It should be noted that visiting a museum of instruments of torture can have a strong impact on any person.

How to get there: take tram 12, 20, 22 or 23 to Small Square.

Opening hours: daily from 10 am to 10 pm.

CastleLobkowitz

Monuments of the history of the nation.

Address: Jiřská 3, Prague Castle.

Opening hours: daily, except Mondays, from 9 am to 5 pm; Free admission on the first Wednesday of every month. www.lobkowicz.cz

Museum of Applied Arts

Here you will find the history of materials such as glass and ceramics, as well as the history of furniture, textiles, books, decoration and applied arts.

Opening hours: daily from 10 am to 7 pm (every Tuesday from 5 to 7 pm admission is free), Wed-Sun – from 10 am to 6 pm.

Jewish Museum

The Jewish Museum includes the following historical buildings and sites: the Maisel Synagogue, the Pinkas Synagogue, the Klaus Synagogue, the Ceremonial Hall, the Old Jewish Cemetery, the Robert Guttman Gallery, the Old-New Synagogue and the Žižkov Jewish Cemetery.

Opening hours: daily, except Saturdays and Jewish holidays. During peak season - from 9 am to 6 pm; during the seasonal lull - from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. www.jewishmuseum.cz

Art galleries

Prague Castle Picture Gallery

As you might guess from the name of the museum, its theme is based on paintings from Prague Castle. The museum's history dates back to the 16th century and begins with the impressive art collection amassed by Emperor Rudolf II. The modern museum owns only a few paintings from this collection. It features works by famous German, Flemish, Italian and Dutch artists, as well as a number of paintings by Czech painters, included in the collection in 1930. www.kulturanahrade.cz

Schwarzenberg Palace

Exhibition Center, National Gallery Contemporary Art Collection

This museum is entirely dedicated to works of the 20th and 21st centuries and is spread over three floors housing an extensive collection of artifacts. In addition to Czech art, the museum houses exhibits collected from all over the world. In total, more than 2,000 different pieces of art are stored here. www.ngprague.cz

Stenberg Palace

It contains delightful examples of European painting, including the “Feast of the Rosary” by the famous artist Albrecht Durer. www.ngprague.cz

Monastery of St. Agnieszka of Bohemia

The art collection housed in the monastery includes a 14th-century work entitled “The Resurrection of Christ,” painted by the master of the Trebon Altarpiece. www.ngprague.cz

Gallery of Jaroslav Fragner

This museum is entirely dedicated to architecture, the wonderful creations and the architects themselves who worked on the development of Czech architecture. www.gjf.cz

Prague Langhans Gallery

This museum houses an extensive collection of fine art photography, and its exhibits cover the long history of photography. Also present here are new forms of media representing world photography in the 21st century. www.langhansgalerie.cz

Exhibition Hall Manes

The exhibition hall building serves as an excellent example of functional architecture and is no less impressive than the examples of avant-garde art exhibited there. One of the most striking features of the building is the combination of old and new architecture, with a 15th-century water tower juxtaposed with a 1930s exhibition hall.

PRAGUE CITY PICTURE GALLERY.

Only ten years have passed since the prevailing opinion that all valuable works previously in the collections of Prague Castle, with the exception of those in the National Gallery, were completely lost to Prague. The amazement caused by the conclusions of the artistic and historical research carried out in 1962-1964 is still alive. As a result of this reconnaissance, it was established that several dozen hitherto unidentified works by outstanding world-famous masters, forgotten remains of a once famous art gallery, had been preserved in Prague Castle. The most famous names of European artists: Titian and Pordenone, Veronese and Tintoretto, Jacopo and Leandro Basano, Fetti and Saraceni, Reni and Rubens and a number of other names testified to the significance of what was discovered contrary to established opinion. The question has been repeatedly raised as to how it could happen that such outstanding works of art could go unnoticed and forgotten in such a famous place as Prague Castle, which attracts the attention of the public and specialists. However, even in our time, when the paintings are stored in the newly built Picture Gallery (opened in January 1965), have become generally known and have entered the world's specialized literature, we still have to answer these questions. The only convincing answer to this can be provided by the extraordinary circumstances associated with the exciting history of the Castle's art collections, which in a certain sense reflects the past of the Czech state and the complex historical destinies of the people. Much was known, but still it turned out to be not enough. It was known that the largest and most outstanding part of the famous collections of Emperor Rudolph II was taken away by the Swedes in 1648, that in the forties of the 18th century many valuable paintings were sold to Dresden, that in 1782 the remains of the Rudolphin collections were sold at a humiliating auction for pennies (and galleries of later times), and that the systematic transfers of works of art from Prague Castle to Vienna, carried out throughout the 19th century, were then imprinted in the memory. However, there were important gaps in this knowledge. A simple but important fact was not taken into account that a significant part of the old collection escaped the “Josefin” auction in 1782 for the reason that it was separated from the former art gallery and used to decorate the premises of the Castle. It remained unclear: what actually remained in Prague from the old collections in the 19th century and what was taken to Vienna. The illusion of the complete loss of the old picture gallery in 1782 and the unclear idea about the nature and origin of the paintings hung in the chambers of Prague Castle in the 19th century were the cause of ambiguities and errors. Therefore, the prevailing opinion could be that the remaining blackened paintings preserved in the Castle are of no particular value, that they are works of later origin, ordinary paintings, or copies that do not belong either to the “Rudolfin” collection or to the large gallery that arose in its place. Rudolphin treasures lost in the 17th century. This is why it was not until the sixties of this century that there was an impulse to conduct a thorough scientific examination of old paintings. The consequences of this oversight were already evident during the emergence of the independent Czechoslovak state. When, after the collapse of Austria-Hungary, the young republic sought to ensure that, on the basis of the Treaty of Saint-Germain, the works of art taken from Prague Castle to Vienna were returned, some paintings were included in the lists of paintings required from Austria on the basis of old palace inventories - forgotten, unidentified and without attribution, which were in Prague Castle (Washing of the Feet, Veronese, Good Samaritan, Bassano). Attention was always directed to the works exported from the country and was not given due attention to the undervalued paintings that remained in Prague. And only after the Second World War, thanks to the fundamental measures of the socialist state, which decided to conduct reconnaissance and research in Prague Castle, the prerequisites began to arise for the opportunity to dispel the fog of illusions and historical misunderstandings. A new approach to an old problem was not found immediately or by luck. An important role was played by the study of old inventories, as a result of which one circumstance was established that had not previously received adequate attention: in Prague Castle in the 17th and early 18th centuries there were many outstanding works that are not in any of the places where paintings from the Castle in later times were exported: neither in Vienna, nor in Dresden and, of course, not in the Prague National Gallery. Have some of these works remained with us in their original place, forgotten and unnoticed, next to copies and numerous mediocre or even priceless paintings? Thus, a hypothesis arose that some of the paintings stored in Prague Castle may have a different character and value than hitherto assumed. The results of the art-historical investigation recommended by the author of this essay based on the above-mentioned hypothesis are best evidenced by the Prague Castle Picture Gallery today and its detailed scientific catalogue. It turned out that in Prague Castle, despite all the losses, a significant remnant of the old collection of paintings was still preserved. This is only a small portion of the former wealth, which remained in the shadows during the sale and alienation of more attractive paintings. But even so, this share deserves recognition: it can be compared to a precious stone that fell out of the coronation jewels and lay forgotten in the semi-darkness. This remnant, reminiscent of the glory of the large art collections of the Prague royal residence, was highly appreciated by eminent experts of world renown who met in Prague in June 1965 at the International Symposium dedicated to new discoveries and at the same time the reopening of the Prague Castle Picture Gallery.

The glory of the palace collections was founded by the collection, unique for its time and still insufficiently appreciated, collected by the Czech king and German emperor Rudolf II (1576-1612). This collection covered all branches of artistic crafts, then sculptural works of the ancient era, the Renaissance period and works of that time, old coins and cameos, drawings, etc. But the main place was occupied by painting, covering all types, pictorial types and paintings, belonging to the brushes of Italian and transalpine artists. Rudolf paid increased attention to the unique Prague school, which was characterized by the participation in its works of artists of various nationalities, such as: Bartholomeus Spranger from Antwerp, the German Hans von Aachen, the Swiss Joseph Heinz, the Dutchman Roelandt Savere and many others. Among the world-famous masters most valued by Rudolf II, whose paintings he diligently sought out, one should name Titian and Bassano, Correggio and Parmigianino, P. Bruegel and Dürer. After the death of Rudolf, Emperor Matthias began to export paintings to Vienna, many were sold, but the decisive blow towards the end of the Thirty Years' War was dealt by the Swedish invasion in 1648, when the most valuable part of the collection was exported to Sweden and came into the possession of the Swedish Queen Christina. After her abdication, the queen sold part of her collections, left some in Sweden, and took the rest with her to Rome, where she continued to buy new paintings. After her death, the collection passed into the hands of the Duke of Orleans in 1722, came to Paris and then to London. From there, at the beginning of the 19th century, the paintings that once adorned Prague Castle were sold to all corners of the world. Already in the middle of the 17th century, the sad fate of the Rudolphin collections aroused a strong desire to create a new, worthy gallery in Prague Castle. At the time when Prague again had the opportunity to become, as under Emperor Rudolf II, a capital city, around 1655-1656. The art gallery was renovated as a permanent one and housed in the premises of the former Kunstkamera and treasury. Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, brother of Emperor Ferdinand III., who during his stay in the Spanish Netherlands as the emperor's viceroy collected a collection amazing in its volume and quality (which later formed the core of the Vienna Gallery), also acquired paintings for Prague Castle. He bought paintings everywhere, but especially used auctions of art property of the English aristocracy that took place during the English bourgeois revolution. From the paintings acquired by the Archduke, a new Prague Picture Gallery arose, which was intended to continue the tradition of the Rudolphin collection and, as an indivisible part of the royal residence in Hradcany, was subordinated to the Czech royal chamber; its keeper and treasurer was in the service of the Bohemian royal chamber in Prague, and not at the Viennese palace chamber. Based on the inventory from 1685, it is possible to reconstruct this gallery and identify works currently stored mainly in Vienna, Dresden and only in limited quantities in Prague. From the famous Buckingham collection, auctioned in Antwerp in 1648, almost one hundred paintings ended up in Prague Castle. The Prague collection (551 paintings in 1685) was quantitatively smaller than the Vienna collection (1397 paintings), but qualitatively the difference was small. The assessment of contemporaries sometimes even leaned towards the side of the Prague Assembly, which was distinguished by the balance of its composition and outstanding dominant figures. In Prague, Italian painting of the 16th and early 17th centuries predominated, along with which Dutch and German painting occupied a significant place. The Venetians predominated numerically, represented by a significant number of works by Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto and members of the large Bassano family. Of the works of the 17th century, Prague housed a collection of works by D. Fetti, the largest and most beautiful of all that could be collected on the other side of the Alps. The value of Flemish painting was evidenced by the presence of many works by Rubens, paintings by van Dyck, Snyders, P. Boca and many other masters. The most valuable paintings that have survived to this day in Prague Castle belong to this gallery, created immediately after half of the 17th century.

The Prague Castle Art Gallery was not isolated from the artistic life in the Czech Republic. The founder of the Czech tradition of painting in modern times, Karel Skreta (1610-1674), showed his talent here as a specialist consultant and restorer, and, moreover, adopted the motives for his work. The palace gallery had an even more profound impact on the greatest master of Czech Baroque painting, Petr Brandl (1668-1735), who, during his student years, gained artistic knowledge there, which determined his accelerated maturation and further artistic development.

The collection of paintings remained untouched until the moment when, simultaneously with Viennese centralism at the beginning of the 18th century, Vienna’s attitude towards the Czech lands began to change. And only now, during the period of the abolition of Czech authorities and the associated relative limitation of the independence of the Czech lands within the framework of the Austrian Empire, paintings from the Prague Castle gallery began to be considered as the personal property of the emperor. During the coronation of Emperor Charles VI as the Czech king in 1721 and 1723. A total of 46 selected paintings by Poussin and Correggio, Titian, Veronese, Reni, Rubens, etc. were exported to Vienna. Instead, 44 paintings were transported from Vienna in 1732, which in terms of quality could not compensate for the damage caused to the collection. However, filling the gaps did not last long. The gallery was severely damaged during the Theresian period. During the war, in 1742, the inspector of the Dresden Art Gallery I. B. Reedy bought a total of 84 paintings from Prague Castle and from private noble collections in Prague. Despite the displeasure of Vienna caused by this act, Dresden agents soon (in 1749) managed to acquire another outstanding collection of works in Prague. The Dresden reseller Placido Djaldi invented a fairy tale that in this case he acts as a representative of his friend, a wealthy Amsterdam merchant who received a rich inheritance after the death of his father in Amsterdam. Empress Maria Theresa, in dire need of money, sold - unsuspectingly - a collection of 69 outstanding paintings to the Saxon royal court in 1749, something she would never have done if she had known her true partner. During the negotiations, the empress even showed a desire to sell the entire Prague art gallery and quickly lowered prices in order to sell it quickly. However, in Dresden they behaved cautiously; the procurement policy was carried out in accordance with a certain concept of systematic purchases of paintings from collections throughout Europe.

The Seven Years' War had an unfavorable effect on the fate of the Prague Gallery, when in 1757, during the shelling of Prague Castle, the paintings were hidden in protected premises. When the situation changed, the paintings were no longer returned to their place - the gallery turned into a closed warehouse for paintings. After the construction of the Theresian palace wing, some of the paintings were used to decorate the new imperial chambers, along with paintings of no significance sent for this purpose from Vienna. The other part remained in storage, from where, however, suitable works were constantly selected for Vienna: starting from the middle of the 18th century, paintings exported from Prague formed a thick and continuous line. When members of the military council recommended that Emperor Joseph II turn the royal residence in Hradcany into artillery barracks, an order was announced to auction off all remaining artistic objects, unique items and numerous paintings stored in the treasury, warehouse and old armory. The auction of 1782 should be considered the most tragic cultural event to befall Prague Castle since the Swedish invasion. Works by great and renowned artists were sold at ridiculous prices. The head attributed to Dürer was valued at 7 kreuzers; a damaged painting by Dürer “Feast of the Rosary” worth only 1 guilder; canvas from the Giorgione school - 20 kreuzers. The paintings of Bassano and the works of the school of Giulio Romano were also rated low. Titian's Madonna was valued at 2 guilders; the painting attributed to Bruegel was valued at 30 kreuzers. This is how a complete depreciation and at the same time “equalization” of values ​​occurred. The famous sculpture "Illina" was assigned to a group of three old and damaged marble statues - without heads, arms and legs - valued wholesale at 30 kreuzers. The ancient work, for which Rudolf II once paid tens of thousands of ducats, was valued at 10 kreuzers. The torso of this sculpture with its broken arms later became an eloquent symbol of the humiliating sale of defenseless art.

The paintings that remained in the Castle as decoration for the chambers, modernized at the beginning of the 19th century, fell into oblivion. Gradually, the opinion took root that everything valuable was sold off during the Josephine auction. This erroneous opinion was not shaken, oddly enough, by new knowledge and removal to Vienna in the second half of the 19th century. At the time when a general inventory of castles belonging to the imperial family began to be carried out, a professional viewing of the works was carried out in Prague in 1876 by the German professor Alfred Woltmann. This researcher, who was the first to use old inventories, identified many outstanding works in Prague Castle and wrote in 1877 that in the premises of Prague Castle, access to which is open only with the accompaniment of an official and in most cases only partially, “an almost unknown treasure is kept.” . By a paradoxical coincidence of historical circumstances, this expression retained its validity in the 20th century. In fact, everything that Woltmann recognized as worthy of attention was taken to Vienna during the second half of the 19th century, but the paintings that were stored in storage rooms escaped Woltmann’s attention. There was also an unknown treasure there. It was these works, kept in seemingly rummaged storage rooms in the 19th century, that were rediscovered during the recent artistic and scientific exploration of the City.

The assumption that everything of any significance had been removed was part of the inheritance under which Prague Castle came into the possession of the revived Czechoslovak state in 1918. Only a few works attracted attention and were transferred to the Picture Gallery of the Society of Art Lovers, from which the present National Gallery arose. The remaining paintings served to decorate the City chambers, open to the general public, or were placed in storerooms, and remaining unidentified, not being exhibited and not having a definition of authorship, they became only a document of a bygone era. The starting point for a new assessment of paintings in 1962-1964. information came from old inventories that had escaped attention, but the actual method of determining authorship was an analysis of style based on a careful comparison with proven works of individual masters and schools. Along with the artistic and historical work, labor-intensive restoration work took place, in which over twenty outstanding Czechoslovak restorers took part.

Selected remains of the old gallery were placed in the northwestern part of Prague Castle in rooms that, in their structure and in the time of construction, are close to the famous collections of Rudolf II, which were once stored on the floor above, next to the Spanish Hall. The center of the present Picture Gallery is formed by two monumental halls, which arose as a result of the reconstruction of former stables: Ferdinand's stable, built in 1534, and Rudolf's stable from 1595. Connected to these halls are several small adjacent rooms that arose during the Teresian reconstruction of the Castle in the 18th century and underwent various refurbishments in the 20th century. The rational connection and harmonious coherence of rooms of different design and character of style for the purposes of the gallery is a successful solution to the difficult task associated with the new architectural design of the overall ensemble of rooms, carried out in 1964 by the architects Frantisek Zubr and Josef Hruby.

In terms of its artistic concept, the Picture Gallery is generally a document of a historical nature and an organic component of Prague Castle. For this reason, the exhibition of works of art has been supplemented by photographic documentation, which introduces the gallery visitor to the complex past of the art collections of Prague Castle - with paintings that were taken from Prague, and contributes to the creation of artistic and historical criteria for the material assessment of what has been preserved in Prague .

THE PICTURE GALLERY OF PRAGUE CASTLE

Only one decade has passed since the time when it was generally assumed that all valuable works of the former Castle collections - which were not in the possession of the National Gallery - had been irretrievably lost. We have not forgotten the element of surprise caused by the conclusions of detailed investigations carried out by art historians in the years 1962 - 64, namely that several dozen unknown works by painters of world renown were still located on the premises of Prague Castle itself. These canvases were the forgotten remains of the once world-famous gallery. The importance of this find, which ran counter to accepted ideas, is documented by the names of some of the most famous painters in Europe, Titian and Pordenone, Veronese and Tintoretto, Jacopo and Leonardo Bassano, Fetti and Saraceni, Reni and Rubens, to mention but a few. The question arose over and over again how it was possible that such famous works could have been overlooked and forgotten in as famous a place as Prague Castle, which is the center of attraction both for the public and for experts.

Today the pictures are installed in the newly opened Picture Gallery of Prague Castle (inaguration January 1965). Now that they are well known and have been published in specialist journals, an answer is due to this question. The only convincing reply rests in the unusual circumstances that affected the changing history of the Castle Collections, which, in a certain sense, reflect the past history of the Czech state and the confused fate of the nation. A good deal was known but that did not suffice. It was known, for example, that in the year 1648 the Swedes carried off the largest and most important part of the famous Rudolphinian Collection; that in the forties of the 18th century a great many valuable paintings were sold to Dresden; that in 1782 the remnants of the Rudolphinian Collection (and the subsequent gallery) were sold for ridiculously low sums at an ignominious auction; nor were people ignorant of the fact that throughout the 19th century masterpieces from Prague Castle were systematically removed to Vienna. But there still remained blank places. It was not taken into consideration that a substantial part of the old collection escaped the Josephinian auction in 1782 by the simple but important circumstance that certain works in the former art collection had been removed and used as room decorations in the Castle itself. Nor was it very clear what portion of the old collections actually remained in Prague during the 19th century and what exactly had been carted off to Vienna. At the bottom of all this confusion and these mistaken assumption lay the illusion that the old picture gallery was completely lost in 1782 and nobody knew anything about the character and origin of the picture that were hung in Castle rooms in the course of the 19th century. Hence the general assumption that the few blackened pictures surviving at Prague Castle were of insignificant value, that they were all pieces of later provenience, average paintings or copies which had nothing to do with either the Rudolphinian Collection or the big Picture Gallery which was replaced the lost Rudolphinian treasures in the 17th century.

That is the reason why no suggestions were made until the sixties of our century that the old pictures should be subjected to thorough scholarly research. The consequences of this mistake had appeared at the time when the independent Czechoslovak state came into existence. After the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire the young republic took steps to gain back the works of art removed from Prague Castle to Vienna, using a clause in the Treaty of Saint-Germain. The inventory submitted to Austria at the time, drawn up on the basic of older Castle investories, included several works which, in fact — forgotten, unrecognized and unattributed — were then hanging at Prague Castle (Veronese Christ Washing the Feet of his Disciples, Bassano "s Good Samaritan). For attention had been centered only on works that had been taken out of the country and not on any that had remained in Prague.

It was not until after the second world war when the socialist state took basic measures lighter scholarly investigations of Prague Castle that prerequisites were established that tore apart the veil of illusions and of historical miscomprehension. The new approach to the old problem did not occur suddenly or as the result of a lucky chance. A thorough study of the old investories was undertaken which drew attention to certain facts that had hitherto been overlooked: In the 17th and early 18th century Prague Castle owned many important works which today are not to be found at any of the places to which the pictures later found their way, neither in Vienna, nor Dresden and certainly not in the Prague National Gallery. Was it not possible that, after all, some of these pictures might have remained in this country, in their original places, forgotten or regarded as copies by the side of the numerous average or unimportant paintings? These thoughts gave rise to the hypothesis that various pictures at the Castle might be of a different character and value than was so far assumed. The result of the research which your author proposed on the basic of these assumptions and which he was entrusted to direct, are best shown in today"s Picture Gallery of Prague Castle. They are described in full in the Catalog of the Picture.Gallery of Prague Castle. It was shown that despite losses an important part of the former collections had remained at the Castle. Though only a fragment of the former treasures it is still one that deserves respect. We might compare it to a gem that has broken off the Crown Jewels and lays long forgotten in the shadow. This fragment, which recalls the glory of the great art collections of the royal residence in Prague, was highly appreciated by leading art specialists from the whole world, who met in Prague in June 1965 at an international symposium devoted to the new discoveries and to the newly opened Picture Gallery of Prague Castle.

The fame of the Castle collections rests on a collection which was unique in its time and has to this day not been fully evaluated. It was founded by the King of Bohemia and German Emperor Rudolph II (1576—1612). It contained works from all branches of arts and crafts, as well as antique, Renaissance and contemporary works of sculpture, old coins, cameos, drawings and the like. But the most important place was reserved for paintings of all kind, types and subjects, represented equally by Italian as by northern artists. Among the latter Rudolph paid special attention to the special Prague School, the character of which was determined by artists of various nationalities Bartholomeus Spranger of Antwerp, Hans von Aachen from Germany, Josef Heintz of Switzerland and Roelandt Savery from the Netherlands as well as numerous others . Among the world-famous masters whom Rudolf II respected most and whose pictures he passionately collected, mention should be made at least of Titian and Bassano, Corregio and Parmigianino, P. Bruegel and A. Dürer. After Rudolph"s death Emperor Matthias had the pictures taken to Vienna, many objects were sold and the decisive blow fell when at the end of the Thirty Years" War the Swedish army invaded Prague and took the most valuable core of the collections back to Sweden where it became the property of the Queen of Sweden Christina. After her abdication the Queen sold part of her collection, leaving some pictures behind in Sweden while she took the rest to Rome where she purchased other works. After her death, in 1722 the collection became the property of the Duke of Orleans, was taken to Paris and finally to London. There, at the beginning of the 19th century, the pictures that had once adorned Prague Castle were sold and scattered all over the world.

In the middle of the 17th century the sad loss of the Rudolphinian collections acted as a mighty stimulus for establishing a new distinguished gallery at Prague Castle. At a time when, as under Emperor Rudolph II, Prague had a chance of becoming once again the residential town of the Empire, roughly in the years 1655 - 56, the gallery was re-opened as a permanent institution in the chambers of the former Rudolphinian Kunstkammer and Schatzkammer. Archduke Leopold Wiliam, the brother of Emperor Ferdinand III, was commissioned to purchase pictures for Prague Castle since during his governorship of the Spanish Netherlands he had acquired for himself a collection of remarkable size and quality. (Later this became the core of the gallery in Vienna.) Leopold William acquired pictures where he could, chiefly making use of the auctions of the art collections of the English aristocracy which were a consequence of the English Revolution. As a result of these " purchases a new picture gallery came into existence at Prague Castle. This was to follow up the tradition of the Rudolphinian Collection and to become an integral part of the royal residence at the Hradčany Castle and it was administered by the Royal Bohemian Exchequer; its Keeper was an employee of the Bohemian Exchequer with residence in Prague, not an official of the Royal Court in Vienna. We can reconstruct this Gallery with the aid of an inventory from the year 1685 and identify works which today are mostly to be found in Vienna, in Dresden while only a few of them have remained in Prague. Prague Castle acquired almost one hindred paintings from the famous Buckingham Collection, which was put up for auction in Antwerp in the year 1648. In 1685 the Prague Collection owned 551 pictures, being smaller than that in Vienna, which counted 1397 paintings, but the difference in quality was far less great. The witness of contemporaries even speaks in favor of the Prague gallery as it was balanced in composition and possessed effective dominant works. In Prague there was a large collection of Italian paintings from the 16th and early 17th century with almost equal stress on Netherland and German paintings. Numerically the Venetians were represented best with a large number of works by Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto and members of the various branches of the Bassano family. From among works by 17th century artists Prague possessed the largest and most beautiful collection of works by D. Fetti that was ever assembled anywhere north of the Alps. The value of the Flemish paintings can be documented by numerous works by Rubens, by Van Dyck, Snyders, P. Vos and many other masters. The most important pictures that have survived in Prague to this day date from the Picture Gallery established soon after the middle of the 17th century.

The Picture Gallery of Prague Castle was not cut off from artistic life in Bohemian in general. The founder of modern Czech art Karel Škréta (1610 1674) acted as specialist consultant and restorer and gained many an impulse for his own work here. The Gallery had an even more profound effect on the greatest master of Czech Baroque painting Petr Brandl (1668— 1735), who during his years of apprenticeship learned a great deal about art here, which left a mark on his quick artistic growth and subsequent development .

The Collection remained intact until the beginning of the 18th century when with the growth of Viennese centralism Vienna's attitude to the Czech Lands underwent a change. At that time the local administrative bodies of the Czech Lands were abolished and with in the relative independence of the Czech Lands within the Austrian confederation. It was then that the pictures at Prague Castle began to be treated like the Emperor's private property. When Emperor Charles VI had himself crowned as King of Bohemia a total of forty-six selected works were taken to Vienna (1721 and 1723). They included works by Poussin, Correggio, Titian, Veronese, Reni, Rubens and others. By way of replacement forty-four pictures were sent from Vienna in 1732 but in regard to quality they were no substitute for the previous loss. They filled the gaps for only a brief period. Under the rule of Marie Theresa the Gallery suffered badly. In the eventful war year of 1742 the Dresden Gallery Inspector J. B. Riedl purchased a total of eighty-four pictures from Prague Castle and other collections belonging to aristocratic families. Although this purchase aroused significant indignation in Vienna, Dresden agents managed to acquire another outstanding set of pictures in 1749. On orders from Dresden Placido Gialdi made out that he was negotiating the purchase for a friend of his, a rich Dutch merchant who had inherited a large fortune from his father in Amsterdam. Empress Maria Theresa, who was in urgent need of money, in complete ignorance, sold a collection of sixty-nine outstanding works to the Court of Saxony in 1749. She would barely have done so, had she known the truth about her business partner. In the course of the negotiations, she even showed willingness to sell the entire Prague Gallery and quickly lowered her demands, so anxious she was to have the business concluded. But in Dresden they were more cautious, for their purchases followed a definite conception of acquiring systematically selected paintings from collection all over Europe.

The Seven-Years" also left scars on the fate of the Castle Gallery. In 1757 during the bombardment of Prague Castle the pictures were hastily hidden in safe places. But when the situation changed they were not returned to their original sites and the gallery became a mere locked store-room of paintings. When the Theresian wing of the Castle was completed a part of the pictures were used as decorations in the new imperial chambers by the side of unimportant pieces sent for this purpose from Vienna. The remainder of the pictures stayed in the storeroom and from here a constant selection of pictures was made to suit the requirements of Vienna: from the middle of the 18th century on picture transports followed one upon the other in quick succession. Under Joseph II military advisors proposed to the Emperor that the royal residence at Hradčany be turned into military barracks and the order was given for all works of art, rarities and the many pictures locked away in the Schatzkammer, store-rooms and the old armory to be sold in auction. This auction was held in 1782. It was the saddest cultural event since the Swedish invasion of Prague Castle. Works connected with great and famous names were sold for a few kreutzer. A head, given as the work of Dürer, was appreciated at 7 kreutzer, the damaged Feast of the Rose Garland, likewise by Dürer, was given away at a mere gilder; a work from the Sehool of (îiorgione cost 20 kreutzer, as did works by Bassano or from the School of Giulio Romano. Titian's Madonna was to cost two gilders, a picture attributed to Bruegel was marked with the sum of 30 kreutzer. Value ceased to play a role and everything was leveled down. The famous statue of Ilioneus was part of a group of three old broken marble statues without head, legs or arms, total value 30 kreutzer. This ancient work, for which Rudolph II had once paid ten thousand ducats, was thus valued at the sum of ten kreutzer. The armless torso rightly later became the symbol of this humiliating auction of defenseless art. The pictures that remained at the Castle as room decorations modernized in the 18th century, thus fell into oblivion It was generally assumed that all important works had been sold in the Josephinian auction. And this illusion, strangely enough, was not refuted even by new facts that came to light or further removals of pictures to Vienna in the second half of the 19th century . At that time a general stock-taking was carried out in all the castles belonging to the imperial house. In Prague this task of revision was entrusted to the German professor Alfred Woltmann in 1876. He for the first time made use of certain older inventories and identified at Prague Castle many outstanding works. In 1877 he wrote that in the chambers of Prague Castle to which access was only possible in the company of an official and to most of them only partly so "there lies an almost unknown treasure" By a paradox similarity of historic circumstances these words lost none of their validity either in the twentieth century. Almost everything that Woltmann was regarded as remarkable was removed to Vienna in the second half of the 19th century. But Woltmann overlooked the pictures in the depositaries. There too lay an unknown treasure. And it was these works, placed in the allegedly worthless depositaries during the 19th century, that were brought to the light of day during recent expert investigations. The assumption that everything of worth had been removed formed part of the heritage of Prague Castle when it passed into the property of the new Czechoslovak state in 1918. Only a few works attracted attention. They were handed over to the Patriotic Society of Art Lovers whose art gallery later was to become the present National Gallery. The remaining pieces served as decorations in rooms of the Castle that were not open to the public or they were deposited in store-rooms. Since these works were unknown, lacking all attribution they became mere documents of the past era.

The starting point for the new assessment of these pictures in the years 1962 - 64 were the data in the old overlooked inventories which, on the whole, proved trustworthy. But the actual method of attribution was based on analysis of style on the basis of thorough comparison with well-known works by the individual masters and schools. Hand in hand with the work of the art historian went the exacting task of restoration which was undertaken by more than two dozen leading Czech picture restorers.

Selected remnants of "the old galleries were placed in the northwestern part of Prague Castle, in chambers close to the site of the original collections of Rudolph II, which had once been installed one floor higher in the vicinity of the Spanish Hall. The core of today"s picture gallery is formed by two monumentally conceived halls by conversion of the original stables of Ferdinand, built in 1534 and Rudolph"s stables dated 1595. Close to them are smaller rooms which came into existence during reconstruction of the Castle under Maria Theresa in the 18th century and were variously adapted in the 20th century. In 1964 Czech architects František Cubr and Josef Hrubý were faced with the difficult task of making new architectonic alternations whereby to link up and harmonize these various halls and rooms with their different shapes and styles so as to suit the purposes of an art gallery. Their endeavors were crowned with success.

The Picture Gallery is conceived as an artistic unit of historical and documentary character and forms an integral part of Prague Castle. The exhibition of works of art is complemented by photographic documentation which acquaints the visitor with the complex past of the art collections of Prague Castle with works that were once part of the Prague collection setting an artistic and historic standard wherewith to appreciate what has remained in Prague to this day.

On the cover:

PETRUS PAULUS RUBENS (1577 1640), SHROMÁŽDĚNÍ OLYMPSKÝCH BOHÛ. Detail. Olej na plátně. 204 x 379. Asi 1602. Obraz, doložený na Pražském hradě r. 1685, je časnou prací Rubensovou, která vznikla na gonzagovském dvoře v Mantově. Zachycuje konflikt mezi strážkyni manželských svazků Junonou a nespolehlivou, ale triumfující mocí lásky Venuší. Slohovému datování do roku 1602 odpovídá také astronomická situace zachycená polohou planetárních božstev, Jupitera, Slunce a Venuše na zvířetníku. Mnohostranné italské poučení (od Mantegni, Raffaela a G. Romana to Michelangelovi a Benátčanům) je přehodnoceno citovou emfází a zejména smyslovou životností názoru i malířského podání, v němž je dobře patrný flámský původ umělce.

PETRUS PAULUS RUBENS (1577 - 1640), COUNCIL OF THE OLYMPIANS. Detail. Canvas, oil. 204 x 379. Around 1602 - The painting, registered in the collections of Prague Castle in 1685, is an early work by Rubens, which arose during the artist's stay at the court of Gonzago in Mantua. The painting depicts a conflict between the patroness of marital ties, Juno, and the fickle but triumphant goddess of love, Venus. The astronomical situation depicted in the painting, which records the placement of the gods Jupiter, Sun and Venus in the zodiac sign, also corresponds to the stylistic dating of 1602. The multifaceted influence of the Italians (from Mantegna, Raffael and G. Romano and up to Michelangelo and the Venetians) is paraphrased here through an emphatic emotionality, a sensual vitality of vision and a painting style that betrays the artist’s Flemish origins.

PETRUS PAULUS RUBENS (1577- 1640), DIE VERSAMMLUNG DER OLYMPISCHEN GÖTTER. Detail. Öl auf Leinwand. 204 x 379. Vermutlich 1602. - Das in der Prager Burg im Jahre 1685 nachgewiesene Gemälde ist ein Frühwerk von Rubens, entstanden am Hofe der Gonzaga in Mantua. Es schildert den Streit zwischen der Hüterin der Ehebande - Juno - mit der unzuver- läßlichen, aber triumphierenden Macht der Liebe - Venus. Der von der Stilanalyse ausgehenden Datierung in das Jahr 1602 entspricht auch die astronomische Situation, die durch die Stellung der Planetengötter, Jupiter, Sonne und Venus auf dem Tierkreis festgehalten ist. Die vielseitige italienische Belehrung von Mantegna, Raffael und G. Romano bis zu Michelangelo und den Venezianern wurde durch Betonung des Gefühlsinhalts und namentlich durch sinnliche Lebendigkeit in Ausdruck und malerischer Auffassung umgewertet, in der die flämische Herkunft des Künstlers offen zutagetritt.

PETRUS PAULUS RUBENS (1577- 1640). THE COUNCIL OF THE GODS. Detail. Oil on canvas. 204 by 379. Probably 1602. The picture, recorded at Prague Castle in 1685, is an early work by Rubens, made at the court of Gonzaga in Mantua. It depicts the conflict between the guardian of marriage bonds - Juno and the unreliable but triumphant power of love - Venus. Dating by style into the year 1602 competes with the astronomical situation depicted by the position of the gods of the planets, Jupiter, the Sun and Venus, on the zodiac. The picture reveals what the painter learns in Italy (from Mantegna, Raphael, G. Romano to Michelangelo and the Venetians). But the new stress on emotions and the sensual lifelikeness of treatment clearly indicate the Flemish origin of the painter.

PETRUS PAULUS RUBENS (1577- 1640). L"ASSEMBLÉE DES DIEUX DE L"OLYMPE. Detail. Toile. 204 x 379. Aux environs 1602. Le tableau indiqué au Château de Prague dès 1685 est une œuvre de la jeunesse de Rubens. Né à la cour de Mantoue, il saisit le conflit éclatant entre Junon, gardienne des unions conjugales solides, et Vénus représentant la force d'amour, instable, mais triomphant. La situation astronomique représentée dans le tableau par la position des dieux planétaires. Jupiter , le Soleil et Vénus sur le zodiaque correspond à la datation stylistique qui fixe le tableau vers la fin de l"année 1602. Le jeune Rubens avait puisé de Mantegna, Raphael et G. Romano l"enseignement multiple de l"art italien, mais il l "a transformé par l" emphase sentimentale et notamment par la vitalité sensuelle de la conception ainsi que de la facture picturale où il fait sentir son origine flamande.

See also:

(Czech: Obrazárna Pražského Hradu) - the oldest collection of paintings in the Czech Republic. Includes paintings by Italian, German, Dutch and Flemish masters of the 17th century (Tintoretto, Titian, von Aachen, Spranger, Cranach, Rubens), as well as paintings by artists of the Czech school of the 18th–20th centuries (Petr Brandl, Jan Kupetsky, Joseph Manes, Mikolas Ales, Vojtech Ginais, Antonin Hitussi, Antonin Slavicek and others).

The Prague Castle Art Gallery is the heir Rudolph Galleries, which was founded at the end of the 16th century by the eccentric Emperor Rudolf II of Habsburg, known as a generous philanthropist, connoisseur of art and patron of alchemists. During his lifetime, the gallery numbered about three thousand works of painting and included many real masterpieces of his time, but only a few of them have survived to this day (for example, “Feast of Rose Wreaths” by Albrecht Dürer, “Toilet of a Young Woman” by Titian, “Portrait of Veronese” Jacob Koenig).

The decline of the Rudolf Gallery began immediately after the death of the founder in 1612. His successor, Matthias II, transported the best paintings to Vienna, where the imperial court was located. In 1648, most of the collection remaining in Prague was plundered by Swedish troops during the Thirty Years' War.

Over three centuries (1612–1918), the Rudolf Gallery was replenished only once - in 1650, Archduke Leopold Wilhelm bought more than 500 paintings from the collection of the Duke of Buckingham in Antwerp. Among them were such masters as Fetti, Rubens, Rembrandt and Poussin. The rest of the time, the works were periodically exported to the Austrian capital, sold at auctions or “stole” through the numerous halls of Prague Castle, from where they were then appropriated by the enterprising governors of the fortress and ended up in private collections.

clue: If you want to find an inexpensive hotel in Prague, we recommend checking out this special offers section. Typically discounts are 25-35%, but sometimes reach 40-50%.

As a result, only the paintings remained, which, due to their poor condition, were in storage or were transferred for temporary use to the Society of Russian Friends of Art, founded in 1796.

Famous Czech artists Karel Skreta and Petr Brandl said that it was in the paintings of the Rudolf Gallery that they found creative inspiration without having to travel throughout Europe.

Only after the emergence of the national state (1918) did the almost disappeared collection begin to be replenished with works of Czech art of the 19th century. Financed the purchase of paintings Masaryk Foundation. Among the artists whose paintings were bought were Norbert Grund, Adolf Kosarek, Jan Preisler and many others.

Was officially created in 1965 to house a collection that could only figuratively be called Rudolf’s. Now it numbers about four thousand works of art and is constantly growing, but only 107 of the most valuable paintings and three sculptures are put on public display.

During archaeological research in 1950, the remains of Church of the Virgin Mary, which is the first Christian building on the territory of the Prague Castle fortress. The ruins were preserved and opened for tours. Tourists can explore the northern half of the nave, the apse and the altar.

- group tour (up to 10 people) for a first acquaintance with the city and main attractions - 3 hours, 20 euros

- a walk through little-known but interesting corners of Prague away from tourist routes to feel the real spirit of the city - 4 hours, 30 euros

- bus tour for those who want to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the Czech Middle Ages - 8 hours, 30 euros