Dresden’s Old Masters Picture Gallery, or Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, is one of Europe’s great collections of painting. Housed in the Semper Gallery at the Zwinger, it brings together Italian Renaissance masterpieces and Dutch and Flemish paintings in rooms that reward unhurried looking. Its most famous work is Raphael’s Sistine Madonna, whose two cherubs have become almost as recognisable as the painting itself.
The collection grew from the holdings of Saxon electors, with Augustus the Strong and his son Augustus III making particularly ambitious acquisitions in the 18th century. Many paintings were evacuated during the Second World War, then taken to the Soviet Union before being returned to Dresden in the 1950s. Today, the gallery’s history is inseparable from the city’s story of royal wealth, wartime destruction and reconstruction.
Beyond Raphael, look for Vermeer’s Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, with its restored image of Cupid, and works by Titian, Rembrandt and Rubens. Allow two to three hours to explore, and consider an audio guide for context on the artists and collectors. Weekday mornings are generally a good bet for a quieter visit; check current opening hours before setting out. The gallery is in Dresden’s historic centre, a short walk from the Postplatz tram stop.