Editing Alte Pinakothek (section)

== History ==
[[File:München Alte Pinakothek um 1900.jpg|thumb|Alte Pinakothek, hand-painted photograph, {{Circa|1890}}]]
The Wittelsbach collection was begun by Duke [[William IV, Duke of Bavaria|Wilhelm IV]] (1508–1550) who ordered important contemporary painters to create several history paintings, including ''[[The Battle of Alexander at Issus]]'' of [[Albrecht Altdorfer]]. Elector [[Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria|Maximilian I]] (1597–1651) commissioned in 1616 four hunt paintings from [[Peter Paul Rubens]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Natural History and History Painting in Rubens' Animals|url=http://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/de/node/9529|website=Max Planck Institute|access-date=2016-11-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119183711/http://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/de/node/9529|archive-date=2016-11-19|url-status=dead}}</ref> and acquired many other paintings, especially the work of [[Albrecht Dürer]]. He even obtained ''[[The Four Apostles]]'' in the year 1627 due to pressure on the [[Nuremberg]] city fathers. A few years later however 21 paintings were confiscated and moved to Sweden during the occupation of Munich in the [[Thirty Years war]]. Maximilian's grandson [[Maximilian II Emanuel, elector of Bavaria|Maximilian II Emanuel]] (1679–1726) purchased a large number of Dutch and Flemish paintings when he was Governor of the [[Spanish Netherlands]]. So he bought for example in 1698 in Antwerp from Gisbert van Colen 12 pictures of Peter Paul Rubens and 13 of [[Van Dyck]], with the pictures of Rubens from the personal estate of the artist which were therefore not intended for sale. Under Max Emanuel's successors, the purchases were largely discontinued due to the tight budget.<ref>{{cite web|title=ALTE PINAKOTHEK REVIEW|url=http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/germany/munich/review-99223.html|publisher=Fodor's|access-date=19 July 2014}}</ref>

Also Max Emanuel's cousin [[Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine]] (1690–1716) collected Netherlandish paintings. He ordered from Peter Paul Rubens ''[[The Great Last Judgement (Rubens)|The Big Last Judgment]]'' and received [[Raphael]]'s ''[[Canigiani Holy Family (Raphael)|Canigiani Holy Family]]'' as a dowry of his wife. [[Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria]] (1742–1799) had a strong preference for Netherlandish paintings as well, among other paintings he acquired [[Rembrandt]]'s ''The Holy Family''. By the late 18th century a large number of the paintings were displayed in [[Schleissheim Palace]], and accessible to the public.

[[File:Alte Pinakothek-Saal IX.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Room IX]]
After the reunion of [[Bavaria]] and the [[Electorate of the Palatinate]] in 1777, the galleries of [[Mannheim]], Düsseldorf and [[Zweibrücken]] were moved to Munich, in part to protect the collections during the wars which followed the French revolution. Even though 72 paintings including ''The Battle of Alexander at Issus'' were taken to Paris in 1800 by the invading armies of [[Napoleon I]]  (1769–1821),<ref name="Alte">Alte Pinakothek, pp. 24–29</ref> who was a noted admirer of Alexander the Great. The [[Louvre]] held it until 1804, when Napoleon declared himself Emperor of France and took it for his own use. When the [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussians]] captured the [[Château de Saint-Cloud]] in 1814 as part of the [[War of the Sixth Coalition]], they supposedly found the painting hanging in Napoleon's bathroom.<ref name="Wood22">Wood, p. 22</ref> Most of the paintings have not been returned.

With the [[German Mediatisation|secularisation]] many paintings from churches and former monasteries entered into state hands. King Ludwig I of Bavaria collected especially Early German and Early Dutch paintings but also masterpieces of the Italian renaissance. In 1827 he acquired the collection [[Sulpiz Boisserée|Boisserée]] with 216 Old German and Old Dutch masters; in 1828, the king managed to also purchase the collection of the Prince [[Louis of Oettingen-Wallerstein|Wallerstein]], with 219 Upper German and [[Upper Swabia]]n paintings. In 1838 [[Johann Georg von Dillis]] issued the first catalogue.

After the times of King Ludwig I the acquisitions almost ended. Only from 1875 the directors [[Franz von Reber]] and [[Hugo von Tschudi]] secured important new acquisitions, such as the ''[[Madonna of the Carnation]]'' of [[Leonardo da Vinci]] and ''The Disrobing of Christ'' of [[El Greco]].

The predilection of the Wittelsbach rulers for some painters made the collection quite strong in those areas but neglected others. Since the 1960s the Pinakothek has filled some of these gaps: for example, a deficit of 18th-century paintings was addressed by the integration into the collection of works loaned from two Bavarian banks. Among these paintings were [[Nicolas Lancret]]'s ''The Bird Cage'' and [[François Boucher]]'s ''Madame Pompadour''.

In April 1988, the serial [[Vandalism of art|vandal]] [[Hans-Joachim Bohlmann]] splashed acid on three paintings by Albrecht Dürer, namely [[Lamentation of Christ (Dürer, Munich)|''Lamentation for Christ'']], [[Paumgartner altarpiece|''Paumgartner Altar'']] and [[:File:Albrecht Dürer 025.jpg|''Mater Dolarosa'']]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7xKyeh1_V7IC&pg=PA283|page=283|title=Albrecht Dürer: a guide to research|author=Jane Campbell Hutchison|author-link=Jane Campbell Hutchison|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2000|isbn=0-8153-2114-7}}</ref> inflicting damage estimated at 35 million euros. In 1990 [[Dierick Bouts]]' ''Ecce agnus dei'' was acquired.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pinakothek.de/alte-pinakothek/sammlung/rundgang/rundgang_inc.php?inc=bild&which=11677 |title=pinakothek.de – Förderer und Partner |publisher=Pinakothek.de |access-date=29 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006084043/http://www.pinakothek.de/alte-pinakothek/sammlung/rundgang/rundgang_inc.php?inc=bild&which=11677 |archive-date=6 October 2008 }}</ref>

On 5 August 2014, the museum rejected a request by a descendant of the banker Carl Hagen for the repatriation of [[Jacob Ochtervelt]]'s ''Das Zitronenscheibchen'' (''The Lemon Slice'') on the grounds that it had been unlawfully acquired as a result of Nazi persecution. An investigation by the museum established that it had been lawfully purchased at the time for a fair price and that the Hagen family's interest extended only to a security on the painting.<ref>{{cite web|title=Alte Pinakothek rejects restitution claim for 'Das Zitronenscheibchen' by Jacob Ochtervelt|date=5 August 2014 |url=http://www.codart.nl/news/1120/|publisher=codart.nl}}</ref>