Munich's Alta Pinacotek

We spent a fair amount of time in Munich two years ago, and so the only thing we really yearned to see again was its Alta Pinacotek, its old paintings museum. Again, it's one of the great museums of the world, especially if its north-of-the-Alps collection appeals...

Durer's 1500 self-portrait, one of my favorite paintings, and
certainly my favorite self-portrait; but here I must protest--
the museum's placement of this, its most famous item, is poor
and undistinguished, and, like so many paintings we have
seen in great museums recently, it is covered over in glass,
the glare from which makes viewing difficult, much less
photography; I sympathize with the concerns for security,
but I'd rather be metal-detectored and strip-searched than
have every such work of art world-wide so diminished;
soon enough we'll all be going to Google Art rather than
museums, and this practice only hastens that day; see my
August 11, 2010 post for better pix of this and other holdings
of the Alta Pinacotek; commentators usually note Durer's
audaciousness in painting himself as Christ; the inscription
says "I, Albrecht Durer, of Nuremburg, painted this in
permanent colors"; south of the Alps they had not yet quite
gotten into oil painting...

A curious detail from a 14th century adoration of the kings/wise men/magi,
the artist, like so many from that time, unknown to us; justification for usury?
indulgences?

Detail from a late 15th century Last Judgment panel by Hans Fries; Vicki called
this to my attention, noting it is probably the first representation, in European art,
of thongs

Another late 15th altar detail, the temptation of some saint
or other, by Michael Pacher; note butt-faced devil; you
have to spend many hours studying art history to notice
things like this; again, credit Vicki

Cranach's Lucretia; he used the same model for Eve, Venus,
Judith, et al.

And five different times in this Golden Age

Pieter Brueghel the Elder's wonderful Fish Market; enlarge to appreciate the
incredible detail

Boucher's Resting Maiden (we got a little out of order after lunch)

One of the things we like about this museum is that in many rooms they leave out
whole books, in various translations, dealing with the masterpieces nearby

Rembrandt's Raising of the Cross; scholars conjecture that
he painted himself in to demonstrate that he too was a
mortal sinner; I conjecture that he had not met his quota of
self-portraits that month, and so worked himself in, center
stage

Leonardo's Madonna and Child; note the fantastic landscape
in the background...

Detail from a Botticelli Deposition; Vicki and I can spot a Botticelli at 40 paces;
we're getting to like even the religious ones

Albrect Altdorfer' impressive Battle of Issus; you do remember
about the Battle of Issus, where Alexander defeated Darius...

Durer's Holy Guys; John and Peter, Paul and Mark (an odd
assemblage)

And finally--what else?--a fragment of one of Bosch's Last Judgments, which
I had misidentified (good grief!) earlier as a Brueghel