Czech Republic

A panel of St Catherine of Alexandria from the workshop of Master Theodoric, the Bohemian court painter to Emperor Charles IV best known for the panel cycle in the Chapel of the Holy Cross at Karlštejn Castle. Displayed in the National Gallery's Medieval Art exhibition at the Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia, among the outstanding painters of the Luxembourg era the museum names for this period.

“Master Theodoric, St Catherine, 1360–1364” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — West Mexican Effigy Pipe Americas & Oceania · Late Postclassic (c. 1200–1521 CE)

A panel of the Resurrection of Christ, with SS James the Less, Bartholomew and Philip, by the anonymous master named after this altarpiece from Třeboň. The museum credits this painter, active during the reign of Charles IV's successors, with the "Beautiful Style" that "arose in the late 14th century, bringing artistic renown to the Czech Lands."

“Master of the Třeboň Altarpiece, The Resurrection / SS James the Less, Bartholomew, Philip, after 1380” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — Môn Hạ Sảnh Seal (Sảnh Môn Hạ Bronze Seal) South Asia · 1377, reign of King Trần Duệ Tông, Trần dynasty

A gold-ground panel of the Lamentation over the dead Christ by the Camaldolese friar-painter Lorenzo Monaco, a leading painter of the International Gothic style in early fifteenth-century Florence. Part of the Italian Primitive holdings the museum's Collection of Old Masters page notes come mostly from the collection of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, shown in the Old Masters II exhibition at Sternberg Palace.

“Lorenzo Monaco, The Lamentation of Christ, 1408, National Gallery Prague” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — Mamluk Jewellery Islamic world · Lebanon, Mamluk Period (1289–1516 A.D.)

Painted by Dürer during his second stay in Venice, this altarpiece depicts the Virgin and Child crowning Emperor Maximilian I and Pope Julius II with garlands of roses, surrounded by donor portraits including Dürer's own. It entered Emperor Rudolf II's Kunstkammer in Prague in 1606 and, per the museum's own account, is one of the works from that legendary collection that forms the historical core of the National Gallery today - its single most celebrated Old Master painting.

“the famous Feast of the Rosary by Albrecht Dürer” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — Gold ewer with dragon and phoenix design East Asia · Ming Dynasty (1368–1644)

The martyrdom of St Dorothy by Hans Baldung Grien, the most original of Dürer's pupils and a leading master of the Northern Renaissance in Strasbourg, shown in the Old Masters II exhibition at Sternberg Palace.

“Hans Baldung Grien , The Beheading of Saint Dorothy, 1516, National Gallery Prague” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — Salt Cellar Africa · first quarter of the 16th century

A Mannerist court portrait of Eleanor of Toledo, wife of Cosimo I de' Medici, by the Medici court painter Bronzino - used by the museum as the lead image for its permanent Old Masters exhibition at Schwarzenberg Palace.

“Agnolo Bronzino, Portrait of Eleanor of Toledo, c. 1543, National Gallery Prague” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — Haikata Arabic Well (Kisima cha Asili cha Haikataa) Africa · attributed to Arab settlers, 1545

A rare self-portrait drawing by Giuseppe Arcimboldo, the Milanese painter famous for his composite portrait-heads assembled from fruit, vegetables and objects, made while in service at the Habsburg imperial court. The museum itself calls it "Giuseppe Arcimboldo's famous self-portrait" within its Rudolphine-era prints and drawings holdings.

“Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s famous self-portrait is embodied in the important collection of Rudolphine prints and drawings.” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — Tile Panel, Alfiz Islamic world · 1570–1580

Christ at prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, painted during El Greco's mature Toledo period in his characteristic elongated, visionary style, shown among the selected key artworks of the National Gallery's Old Masters exhibition at Schwarzenberg Palace.

“Doménikos Theotokópulos called El Greco, Christ at Prayer, 1585–1597, National Gallery Prague” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — Cypress Trees East Asia · Azuchi-Momoyama period, 1590

A bronze horse in motion by Adriaen de Vries, the leading sculptor at Emperor Rudolf II's imperial court in Prague, renowned for virtuoso casting and dynamic figures; one of the selected key artworks in the Old Masters exhibition at Schwarzenberg Palace.

“Adriaen de Vries, Marching Horse, 1610, National Gallery Prague” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — Hasan’s cloak Islamic world · Last third of the 16th century, reworked mid-17th century

A meditative interior scene of a scholar absorbed in study, from Rembrandt's early Amsterdam years, one of the works the museum selected to represent its Collection of Old Masters in the permanent Old Masters exhibition at Schwarzenberg Palace.

“Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Scholar in His Study, 1634, National Gallery Prague” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — Water Fowl in the Lotus Pond East Asia · Japan, Edo period, early 17th century

A thangka of Mahakala, a wrathful protector deity in Tibetan Buddhism, used by the museum as the introductory artwork for its exhibition 'The Art of Asia Across Space and Time' at Salm Palace, which presents 520 artworks from Asia and the Islamic world spanning 5,000 years.

“The Buddhist Protector Mahakala, Tibet, 18th–19th cent., NGP” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — Pearl diver's weight Islamic world · 1700–1899 CE (18th century)

A kabuki actor print (yakusha-e) by Tōshūsai Sharaku, among the most celebrated and enigmatic ukiyo-e designers, active for less than a year yet renowned for psychologically penetrating actor portraits - used by the museum as the lead image for its Collection of Asian Art, whose roughly 6,500-item Japanese holdings the museum calls its largest component.

“Tōshūsai Sharaku, Segawa Kikunojō III as Oshizu, wife of Tanabe Bunzō, Japan, 1794” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — The Death of Marat Europe · 1793

A wheat-field landscape painted during Van Gogh's stay at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum, part of the French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist holdings shown in the National Gallery's '1918–1938: First Czechoslovak Republic' exhibition at Trade Fair Palace - the museum's own account elsewhere credits 'the purchase of the French art collection by the Czechoslovak state in 1923' as a major undertaking that built this holding.

“Vincent van Gogh, Green Wheat, 1889” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — Bella Vista Americas & Oceania · 1889

A scene of figures dancing by the shore from Munch's recurring 'Frieze of Life' motifs of youth, love and melancholy, shown in the National Gallery's '1796–1918: Art of the Long Century' exhibition at Trade Fair Palace, which the museum describes as connecting Czech and international art of the period 'side by side.'

“Edvard Munch, Dancing on a Shore, 1900” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — Kinnari Box South Asia · 19th - 20th century

Painted during Gauguin's final years in the Marquesas Islands, shown in the National Gallery's '1918–1938: First Czechoslovak Republic' exhibition at Trade Fair Palace alongside Van Gogh and Monet as part of the same 1920s wave of French-art acquisitions.

“Paul Gauguin, Escape, 1902” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — Darby and Joan [Ina Te Papatahi, Ngāpuhi] Americas & Oceania · 1903

One of the earliest fully abstract paintings in Western art, by the Czech-born, Paris-based painter František Kupka, shown in the National Gallery's '1796–1918: Art of the Long Century' exhibition at Trade Fair Palace among the museum's holdings of Czech and international modernism.

“František Kupka, Amorpha. Fugue in Two Colors, 1912” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — Mawson's sledge Americas & Oceania · Used on the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911–1914

A late figure drawing heightened with gouache by Egon Schiele, used by the museum as the lead image for its Collection of Prints and Drawings, which it describes as ranking 'among the biggest and most distinguished graphic collections in Europe' with over 400,000 items.

“Egon Schiele, The Seated Woman With Bent Knees, 1917, Pencil, gouache” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — Cerro Largo (La Aguada) Americas & Oceania · 1918

A late Picasso history painting reworking the classical theme of the Rape of the Sabine Women, held in the National Gallery's Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art (formerly the Collection of Art after 1945).

“Pablo Picasso, The Abduction of Sabines, 1962” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — Espiral (Spiral) Americas & Oceania · c. 1962

A grotesque, semi-mechanical sculptural dialogue between two robot-like figures by Karel Nepraš, a leading figure of Czech neo-Dada and 1960s 'new figuration' - used by the museum as the lead image for its Collection of Art after 1945.

“Karel Nepraš, Great Dialogue, 1966” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page

Meanwhile — The Revelation of St John Africa · 1965

One of the earliest independent portrait panels in Central European art: Archbishop Jan Očko of Vlašim kneels in adoration before the enthroned figures of Emperor Charles IV and his son Wenceslaus IV, who present the Bohemian patron saints and holy relics. A cornerstone of the Gothic panel painting shown in the Medieval Art exhibition at the Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia.

“Anonymous, Votive Panel of Jan Očko from Vlašim, before 1371” In the museum’s words — ngprague.cz ↗ · quotation verified against the live page