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National Museum

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mightywease
mightywease
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4 out of 5
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National Museum

  • November 22, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by mightywease from Carshalton, United Kingdom
National Museum

Housed in an old Franciscan Monastery the National Museum of Gdansk contains works by Polish, Flemish, Dutch, and other European artists plus a gallery of paintings connected with the city, i.e. works by Gdansk painters or of former dignitaries of Gdansk.

The ground floor contains a collection of pottery and porcelain, and gold and silver work by Gdansk craftsmen. The architecture of the building itself is evident and the vaulted ceilings in the old refractory and enclosed cloister are worth noting. To be honest, however, although the exhibits are well worth viewing we found the ground floor had a rather gloomy, uninspiring feel, which totally belies what is found on the next floor.

The first floor of the museum holds the main collection of paintings and is excellently and sensitively set out. Separate galleries focus on the Flemish, Dutch, and European Painters, Gdansk painters and 19th and 20th century Polish painters. The latter includes work by Piotr Michalowski, Stanislaw Wyspianski, and Jacek Malczewski. The latter’s “Autoportrait” 1907 showing him and two children in front of a rural background is quite stunning, absolutely compelling, yet strange and disturbing.

The highlight of the museum’s collection must be Hans Memling’s triptych “The Last Judgement”. Wonderfully detailed and in vibrant colours the saved ascend to heaven while the damned are tormented by demons, all watched over by Christ and administered by Michael the Archangel. There is so much to see in this one piece and it is given pride of place in its own small gallery where you can work around the painting, originally an altar piece, to view it from various angles.

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