Old Masters

Description

The earliest pieces from the Old Masters collection at Kunstmuseum Basel were created around 1400. The collection dedicated to Konrad Witz, an artist active in Basel from 1434 to about 1445, is unique in the number of works it includes – among them the panels of the Altarpiece of the Mirror of Salvation – as well as the body of paintings executed nearly 80 years later by Hans Holbein the Younger in the same city, marking two highlights of the collection. Exceptional works such as the "Christ Dead in the Tomb," the portrait of the artist's family, his Passion altarpiece, or the shutters of the cathedral organ in Basel complete the world's richest collection of paintings created in Basel during this period. The first floor of the Hauptbau houses these masterpieces in a large section dedicated to sacred and secular painting from the 15th and 16th centuries of southern Germany and Switzerland, but also within a small selection of works by Flemish primitives. The 16th century concludes with representations of landscapes by Flemish and Dutch Mannerists, as well as portraits and allegories executed in Switzerland at the same time by Hans Bock the Elder and Tobias Stimmer. German and Dutch still life paintings form a new iconographic theme from the beginning to the end of the 17th century. At the same time, it serves as the starting point for presenting high-quality works from the Dutch Golden Age: history paintings by Rembrandt and his school, genre scenes, portraits, church interiors, landscapes, and marine paintings, representing all major genres of the period. A selection of French Baroque and Rococo artworks guides visitors to the threshold of 1800 and marks the transition to 19th-century art, which is then featured in the exhibition space. Curator: Bodo Brinkmann

Highlights

• Collection of Old Masters from the 15th to the 18th century
• Works by Konrad Witz and Hans Holbein the Younger
• Sacred and secular painting from Germany and Switzerland

General Information

The exhibition at Kunstmuseum Basel presents major works from the Old Masters collection, including unique pieces by Konrad Witz and Hans Holbein the Younger. It highlights the richness of sacred and secular painting from the 15th and 16th centuries, as well as various iconographic themes.

Location

St. Alban-Graben 16, 4051 Basel, Switzerland

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