The Solly Collection 1821–2021 : Founding the Berlin Gemaldegalerie

The foundations for a world-class public art collection in Berlin were laid in 1821: This was the year the Kingdom of Prussia acquired on behalf of the museum to be established in Berlin the painting collection of English merchant Edward Solly (1776-1844). Between 1815 and 1820 this cosmopolitan lover of the arts living in Berlin amassed thousands of paintings above all from Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. Many of the works were by artists little known at the time but who subsequently came to be greatly appreciated and are still renowned today. The exhibition and the accompanying catalogue showcase a representative selection of masterpieces, rediscoveries, and "historical peculiarities", and provide an insight into an age that on the one hand shaped our concepts of art and museums and on the other hand had an entirely different view of the works than we have today. Detailed insights into the history of the Berlin Gemaldegalerie Exhibition: Gemaldegalerie, Berlin, 2022 Artists i.e.: Wilhelm Hensel, Meister der Dossali Veneziani, Puccio di Simone, Giotto, Meister des San Niccolo-Altares, Domenico und Davide Ghirlandaio, Raffael, Girolamo Figino, Johannes Hispanus, Girolamo Romanino, Giovanni Battista Benvenuti, Goossen van der Weyden, Hans Holbein der Jungere, Hans Maler, Ambrosius Benson, Jan Gossart, Rembrandt, Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem, Gian Domenico Cerrini

The foundations for a world-class public art collection in Berlin were laid in 1821: This was the year the Kingdom of Prussia acquired on behalf of the museum to be established in Berlin the painting collection of English merchant Edward Solly (1776-1844). Between 1815 and 1820 this cosmopolitan lover of the arts living in Berlin amassed thousands of paintings above all from Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. Many of the works were by artists little known at the time but who subsequently came to be greatly appreciated and are still renowned today. The exhibition and the accompanying catalogue showcase a representative selection of masterpieces, rediscoveries, and "historical peculiarities", and provide an insight into an age that on the one hand shaped our concepts of art and museums and on the other hand had an entirely different view of the works than we have today.

• Detailed insights into the history of the Berlin Gemäldegalerie
• Exhibition: Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, 2022
• Artists i.e.: Wilhelm Hensel, Meister der Dossali Veneziani, Puccio di Simone, Giotto, Meister des San Niccolò-Altares, Domenico und Davide Ghirlandaio, Raffael, Girolamo Figino, Johannes Hispanus, Girolamo Romanino, Giovanni Battista Benvenuti, Goossen van der Weyden, Hans Holbein der Jüngere, Hans Maler, Ambrosius Benson, Jan Gossart, Rembrandt, Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem, Gian Domenico Cerrini