Alte Pinakothek

Lonely Planet review

Munich's main repository of Old European Masters, the Alte Pinakothek is stuffed with all the major players that decorated canvases between the 14th and 18th centuries. It's in a neoclassical temple masterminded by Leo von Klenze and is a delicacy even if you can't tell your Rembrandt from your Rubens. Nearly all the paintings were collected or commissioned by Wittelsbach rulers and mirror their eclectic tastes over the centuries. It fell to Ludwig I to unite the bunch in a single museum.

The collection is world famous for its exceptional quality and depth, especially when it comes to German masters. The oldest works are altar paintings, of which the Four Church Fathers by Michael Pacher and Lucas Cranach the Elder's Crucifixion (1503), an emotional rendition of the suffering Jesus, stand out.

A key room is the Dürersaal upstairs. Here hangs Albrecht Dürer's famous Christlike Self-Portrait (1500), showing the gaze of an artist brimming with self-confidence. His final major work, The Four Apostles, depicts John, Peter, Paul and Mark as rather humble men in keeping with post-Reformation ideas. Compare this to Matthias Grünewald's Sts Erasmus and Maurice, which shows the saints dressed in rich robes like kings.

For a secular theme, inspect Albrecht Altdorfer's Battle of Alexander the Great (1529), which captures in dizzying detail a 6th-century war pitting Greeks against Persians.

There's a choice bunch of Dutch masters, including an altarpiece by Rogier van der Weyden called The Adorati on of the Magi, plus The Seven Joys of Mary by Hans Memling, Danae by Jan Gossaert and The Land of Cockayne by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Rubens fans also have reason to rejoice. At 6m in height, his epic Last Judgment is so big that Klenze custom-designed the hall for it. A memorable portrait is Hélène Fourment (1631), a youthful beauty who was the ageing Rubens' second wife.

The Italians are represented by Botticelli, Rafael, Titian and many others, while the French collection includes paintings by Nicolas Poussin, Claude Lorrain and François Boucher. The Spaniards field such heavy hitters as El Greco, Murillo and Velázquez.

Budget at least two hours for a visit.