Schwarzenberg Palace Art Gallery

The art gallery within Schwarzenberg Palace houses a collection of Old Master paintings, focusing on European art from the late Renaissance to the Baroque period.

The permanent exhibition, titled Old Masters I, is arranged over several floors and brings together painting and sculpture from the 16th to the 18th centuries. There is an emphasis on works connected to Bohemia, alongside better-known European names. Visitors encounter paintings associated with the court of Emperor Rudolf II, as well as works attributed to artists such as Dürer, Rubens, Rembrandt and Petr Brandl.

The curatorial approach is relatively traditional, favouring clear thematic groupings and generous spacing. This makes the galleries easy to navigate and allows individual works to be appreciated without visual overload.

Temporary exhibitions are occasionally staged in dedicated rooms and tend to maintain a historical or material focus that complements the permanent display rather than distracting from it.

The historic setting of the gallery inside Schwarzenberg Palace is more than a decorative backdrop: the palace’s scale and formality contribute directly to the visitor experience, lending appropriate weight and context to the art on display.

Schwarzenberg Palace dates from the mid-16th century and is recognisable by its extensive black-and-white sgraffito decoration. It is one of Prague’s finest examples of Renaissance architecture, influenced by northern Italy but adapted to local traditions. Inside, vaulted rooms, painted ceilings and a restrained elegance provide a fitting setting for the collection.

There is a cloakroom for coats and larger items, and seating is available in some rooms for those wishing to spend longer with the artworks.

Visitors can enter the Schwarzenberg Palace Art Gallery with the following tickets:

- Schwarzenberg Palace – single-site ticket (Old Masters I).
- Schwarzenberg and Sternberg Palaces – joint ticket (Old Masters I & II).
- National Gallery Prague 10-day pass.

The companion venue to the Schwarzenberg Palace Art Gallery (Old Masters I) is Sternberg Palace (Old Masters II), located directly across Hradčanské Square. It continues the chronological and geographical progression begun at Schwarzenberg.

For a comparable experience of art presented within historic architecture, visit St. Agnes Convent & Medieval Art Gallery in the Old Town.