A C. T U. A L. L Y

At the end of my second visit to the Hockney exhibition a few weeks ago, I decided to have another walk through the Gemäldegalerie .   I’ve seen the permanent collection several times before, often in combination with a special exhibition, but I thought, “Why not?   You can never see too much good art.”   I don’t think I made it around more than 2/3 of the galleries, but what I saw was a Greatest Hits of European painting from the 13 th to the 18 th century .     Here, in no particular order, is what I was able to capture.  If you are in Berlin, I recommend seeing the works in person.  My photos don't do them justice. Jan Van Eyck   (ca. 12" tall!) Rogier van der Weyden Rembrandt (self-portrait, top)   Vermeer Georges de La Tour Pieter Bruegel the Elder Raphael Dürer Lucas Cranach the Elder Hans Holbein Botticelli Fra Filippo Lippi Masaccio (front) Masaccio (retro) Ghirlandaio Bellini Caravaggio Frans Hals Watteau Sir Joshua Reynol...

My husband loves to plan long weekend getaways.   Most recently he had us on a plane to London to visit friends and see the Raphael Exhibit at the National Gallery.   It was a great escape! Raphael had a short but busy and very varied career.   From the National Gallery exhibition booklet: Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi, 1483-1520) is one of the towering figures of the Italian Renaissance.   In a brief 20-year career, cut short by his sudden death at the age of 37, he rose to dominate art in Rome and far beyond.   Working across a wide range of media, with a practice underpinned by his exceptional skills as a draughtsman, Raphael produced major paintings in oil and fresco and created designs for prints, tapestries, mosaics, decorative art and sculpture.   He was also a gifted architect as well as an early archaeologist, supervising several excavations and the wider preservation of ancient Rome. This exhibition, the first outside Italy to encompa...