Second Courtyard
Tel. 224 373 531
Subway: Malostranska,
Hradcanska
Train: 22
Open: 10am- 6pm daily (10am- 4pm in
winter months)
The art gallery in Prague Castle was opened to
visitors in 1965. It occupies restored premises in the northern wing
of the New Royal Palace, where the court stables were previously
located.
The creation of the Art Gallery owes much to the
passion of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II for collecting works of
art. His interest in painting was formed under the influence of his
closest relatives: grandfather Ferdinand I, father Maximilian II and
uncle, Tyrolean Archduke Ferdinand II.
He hired professional
agents and dealers to search for and acquire works of art throughout
Europe, and made numerous commissions abroad and to his court
painters. For the rapidly growing collection, the emperor
commissioned the Italian architect D. Giardgioli to design a
specially designed room.
Construction work began in 1585 and
was fully completed by 1606. Along with paintings and graphics, the
new halls housed an oriental collection, furniture and sculptures.
The total number of works of art by Italian, Dutch and German
masters was about 3,000 copies.
After the death of Rudolph
II, the fate of the collection was tragic. His heir Emperor Matthias
moved a significant part of the collection to Vienna. During the
Thirty Years' War, part of the royal collection was appropriated by
Maximilian of Bavaria, while the other part was captured by the
Swedish army and sent to Stockholm.
The revival of the
collection began in the second half of the 17th century. during the
reign of Ferdinand III, who acquired the collections of Lord
Buckingham and L. Wil. In the 18th century, many works of art left
Prague Castle again: some of them were transferred to the Belvedere
Palace in Vienna, while others were secretly sold to Dresden due to
financial difficulties. But by the end of the century, the Czech
"patriotic friends of art" managed to get some of the paintings
returned to Prague Castle on loan.
The cultural losses of the
gallery temporarily stopped only after the declaration of
independence of the Czechoslovak Republic at the beginning of the
20th century. In 1930, at the expense of the Masaryk Foundation, new
acquisitions of paintings by masters of the Czech Baroque and
artists of the 19th-20th centuries were made. In 1962, many valuable
paintings left the Prague Castle again: this time they replenished
the collection of the National Gallery. The final decision to create
an independent art museum in Prague Castle was made only in 1965.
In the modern exposition of the oldest art gallery in the Czech
Republic, only 107 paintings and several sculptures, selected from
4,000 works of art in Prague Castle, are exhibited. From the
original collection, only a few works by masters of painting have
been preserved in it. After the restoration of the hall according to
the project of the architect B. Shipek, the paintings were placed in
it according to the principle of art schools in different countries.
Gallery visitors have the opportunity under its vaults to get
acquainted with the history of painting, sculpture and the work of
artists from the 14th century. At the beginning of the inspection,
they are met by a copy of the bust of the founder of the gallery,
Rudolf II, by A. de Vries. In its halls there are paintings “The
dressing room of a young lady” by Tiziano Vecellio, “Centaur Ness
abducts Dejanira” by G. Reni, “Assembly of the Olympic gods” by P.
Rubens, works by Theodoric from Prague, L. Cranach and P. Veronese.
A significant place is occupied by the work of Czech baroque artists
J. Kupetsky, P. Brandl and some other masters.
Ticket price
Adult: 100 Kč; Discounted: 50 Kč; Family: 200 Kč;
Information
+420 224 373 531 | culturenahrade.cz | 09:00 – 17:00
How to
get there
ADDRESS Pražský hrad - II. nadvori, Prague 1 | GPS:
50.09076474, 14.39854736
METRO Malostranská.
TRAM during the
day: 22, 23, 41. Stop Pražský hrad. @ Source
https://praga-praha.ru/obrazarna-prazskeho-hradu/