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Alte Galerie

Masterpieces

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Location

Alte Galerie, Schloss Eggenberg

Curators

Ulrich Becker, Barbara Kaiser, Karin Leitner-Ruhe and Christine Rabensteiner

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About Alte Galerie

The Alte Galerie invites you to take a stroll through the history of European art from the Middle Ages to the end of the Baroque period. In its new display, the Alte Galerie reveals the splendour and misery of a fascinating epoch: the early modern period.

22 Theme Rooms

Referred to as the early modern period, the centuries between 1500 and 1800 mark the transition from the Christian world view of the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment on the eve of the Modern Age: as old certainties dwindled, the search for new ways towards the future was fraught with conflict. The epoch is often associated with Renaissance and Baroque splendour. Yet on closer inspection, this dazzling façade also reveals a blood-soaked litany of endless wars and bitter distress. As if guided by the unsteady hand of the goddess Fortuna, the dual countenance of this epoch is marked by religious struggle, by death and by the enjoyment of life, by hunger and abundance.

In this new presentation, the art treasures of the Alte Galerie – enriched by precious loans from the Kaiserschild Foundation – convey an overview of a fascinating age caught between splendour and misery. They enable us to recognize the ups and downs which have shaped our past and continue to resonate right up to the present day.

Overview of the permanent exhibition

Eternity and its Effigy

Eternity and its Effigy

Art in the Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages, art mainly served the glorification of God and the idea of a better life in the world hereafter. Numerous panels, statues and stained-glass paintings evoke a radiating world beyond, free of fear and misery.
Between Dying and Dancing

Between Dying and Dancing

Tales of the early modern period

Referred to as the early modern period, the centuries between 1500 and 1800 mark the transition from the Christian world view of the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment on the eve of the Modern Age.
Graphic Collection

Graphic Collection

Prints – an early mass medium

As of the 15th century, the first paper mills create the basis  for the cheap and rapid production of graphic prints. The period is witness to a media revolution.