Palace of Wonders: The New Galleries of Renaissance and Baroque Art

FACT SHEET

WHEN
Opening October 22, 2005

WHAT
The Walters Art Museum will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its original Palazzo Building with the reinstallation of over 1,500 objects largely from the museum’s Renaissance and Baroque collections—one of the greatest troves of Italian paintings in North America. Paintings of the 14th through 18th centuries, some which have never been on view before, will be displayed with sculptures and decorative arts of the period. This reinstallation project finishes the task begun in October 2001 with the widely acclaimed renovations of the museum’s Centre Street Building, completing the renewal of founders William T. and Henry Walters’ legacies.

In this reinstallation, beloved Walters’ masterpieces by Raphael, El Greco, Bernini, Veronese, Pontormo and Cranach will be joined by recent acquisitions and works that have undergone dramatic conservation treatments. Another highlight will be the re-creation of a Collection of Art and Wonders as it might have been assembled by a 17th-century nobleman in Southern Netherlands (now Belgium): his entry hall of arms and armor, a private study with his most precious collections of portraits, bronze statuettes and antique models and a Chamber of Wonders, encompassing curiosities of nature and human ingenuity. These galleries will be complemented by rooms evoking an elegant Dutch residence around 1700.

WHERE
The Walters Art Museum
600 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

HOURS
Wednesday–Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

ADMISSION
Members: free
Adults: $10
Senior citizens (65+): $8
College students with ID (18-25): $6
Children 6–17: $2
Children under 6: free

INFORMATION
General information: 410-547-9000
Web site: www.thewalters.org
Museum membership: 410-547-9000, ext. 283
Group tours: 410-547-9000, ext. 237

For press inquiries, contact the Office of Public Relations at 410-547-9000, ext. 277 or 394.