Sunday, 24 August 2025

On our second full day in Munich, we went to the Alte Pinakotek, which houses over 700 artworks mostly from the 14th-18th centuries. It’s thanks to the House of Wittlesbach that visitors are able to enjoy this museum (Alte Pinakothek).

This dynasty ruled Bavaria from 1180-1918 and liked to collect art. King Ludwig I in particular considerably expanded the collection, and, “around 1820, he decided to make his treasures accessible to the public. The museum was built…between 1826 and 1836 in the Neoclassical style…At that time, the Alte Pinakothek was considered the largest museum building in the world – and used as a model for other museums, such as the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.” (muenchen.de, “Alte Pinakothek: Discover Art From Da Vinci to Rembrandt”).

Among many other artists, the museum has numerous works by the famous German artist Albrecht Dürer, including his controversial Self-Portrait from 1500.

As curator Despoina Tsoli writes:

“When art historians looked at Albrecht Dürer’s 1500 Self-Portrait, they all saw a pastiche of a Late Northern Medieval depiction of Jesus Christ. More specifically, Dürer can be seen looking directly out of the canvas to the viewer, in a front-facing position, from the waist up and in perfect symmetry to the canvas. Additionally, he wears his hair long and slightly curly in a golden-brown color, a shade different from his own natural pigment. His right hand is curled into an intriguing gesture while his left holds his fur coat. Finally, the golden inscription adorning the plain background bears a unique message: “I, Albrecht Dürer of Nuremberg, made an image of myself in appropriate (everlasting) colors in my 28th year.

All of these compositional elements point intentionally to the image of the Savior. There is no debate surrounding the fact that Dürer painted his portrait in one of the most recognizable stylistic traditions reserved for the figure of Jesus Christ. This stylistic tradition is referred to as Christ Pantokrator and is considered one of the most identifiable artistic styles in Christian iconography. This method of religious imagery was fairly widespread in the Middle Ages and can be found in many frescoes and mosaics as well as in most of the representations of Christ in Greek and Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition.” (Tsoli)

I also liked this self-portrait by Swiss artist Angelika Kauffmann:

You can find some information about women in the arts on the website for the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

After the museum, we took a long stroll to the heart of the Englischer Garten, and had a delightful lunch in the Biergarten, complete with an oompah band. I don’t recall the name of the dish I had but it was potatoes with bits of pork and pork sausage mixed in, and I liked it very much.

At this point, I wished I’d brought my book because it would have been lovely to flop down in one of the fields, rest my feet, and enjoy the sunshine.

As it was, we still enjoyed our walk back. I split off early to get back sooner, and came across a street performer with an impressive voice and a lot of passion.

We rested briefly at the hotel, and then I met up with Vicky while Spenser and Sam were meeting at a different bar for their fantasy football draft, which they called into remotely. Vicky and I started with some refreshments at a bar, and then went to Ratskeller, where they very kindly managed to fit us in without a reservation – we followed the maître d’ around the restaurant for a minute before they identified a table for us.

As soon as we down the stairs to the restaurant, I thought we’d picked the right place. It helped that it was recommended by our guide. Different from the previous night’s restaurant, it had an intimate, cozy wine cellar feel to it, with lots of wood and at least one giant barrel top displayed. There are wrought-iron lamps, in the same traditional style as many shop signs we’d seen around the city, and even stained glass faux-windows.

We had latkes (potato pancakes), a salad and, best of all, a potato soup with crispy onions and pretzel croutons. As we ate, the restaurant started to empty out so that it was a bit quieter than when we arrived.

All in all, Munich was a great start to our trip!