Rainy Day Sightseeing

Thursday, my first full day in Munich, was an overcast day with occasional rain.  So my sightseeing for that day centered on indoor sights.

I began with the "Residenz", the palace that was the home of the Wittelsbach family, the rulers of Bavaria before Germany became a united country.  The exterior, done in a severe Renaissance style belies what is to be seen inside.

I first visited the Treasury which is filled with crowns, gems and decorative objects from the Wittelsbach family.

This crown dates back to 1014 when Kunigunde was crowned along with her husband Duke Henry IV of Bavaria as the Emperor and Empress of the Holy Roman Empire.

This is the oldest English crown in existence.  It belonged to an English princess who married into the Wittelsbach family.  It dates from around 1370.

The crown jewels of Bavaria

As you head into the rooms of the palace you first come to an area facing the courtyard called the Shell Grotto. it is made of volcanic rock and covered with freshwater shells.

Then you come to the Antiquities Room an enormous, long hall that was used for banquets.  It contains the Wittelsbach's collection of Roman statuary.

Then you pass through a series of rooms, more than 100 of them.  Not all of them are furnished, but most are ornately decorated, especially the ceilings.

The Emperor's Hall

The Court Chapel

The King's private chapel for prayer

The Cabinet of Mirrors

The route through the palace apartments is rather confusing, and I had a hard time finding the exit, but I think I saw just about everything.

From the "Residenz"  I walked through a light rain to Munich's most important art museum, the "Alte Pinakothek", the Old Picture Gallery.  From the outside the building is unassuming, nothing like the grandiose museums of Vienna.  But it contains an outstanding collection of paintings from the 14th to the 19th centuries.

Among the artists represented are...

Albrecht Durer...

Botticelli...

and Raphael.

Titian's portrait of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V

Rembrandt's "The Sacrifice of Isaac"

This was the first time that I was face to face with a painting by Da Vinci.

This is one of his early paintings, but in the background you see his characteristic landscape, similar to what you see in the "Mona Lisa".

Across the street is the "Neue Pinakothek" which houses works from the 1800s to the early 1900s.  That museum is currently closed for renovations, but a sampling of its masterpieces are in the old museum's special exhibit area.

Manet

Monet

Gauguin

Several paintings by Van Gogh

By the time I was finished with the museum, it was late afternoon, and the sun had come out.  

And I knew exactly where I was going next.