Sternberg Palace

Sternberg Palace is a Baroque building located in the Hradcany district of Prague, Czech Republic. It currently serves as a gallery for the National Gallery Prague, housing a significant permanent exhibition of European painting. Recognized as a cultural monument, the palace is an important example of secular architecture from the early High Baroque period in the region and remains a key cultural institution within the city.

The site originally contained two mid-14th-century Gothic houses. Construction of the palace began in 1698 under Václav Vojtech of Sternberk and continued until 1707, though the original plans were never fully realized. The architect remains unknown, with candidates including Giovanni Battista Alliprandi, Domenico Martinelli, and Jan Santini Aichel, alongside occasional speculation involving Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and Christoph Dientzenhofer. The Society of Patriotic Friends of Art purchased the building in 1811 after being evicted from the Czernin Palace, which had been requisitioned as a military hospital. The Society completed the previously unfinished southern wing between 1835 and 1842 in a late classicism style. During this period, from 1821 to 1847, the palace also housed the collections of the Bohemian National Museum and served as a workspace for prominent Czech scholars. The Society sold the property in 1871, and the Saint Anna Association of Ladies and Girls established the Ernestinum shelter there in 1872. From 1918 to 1945, the building functioned as a military school. It was renovated from 1946 to 1947 and subsequently became the seat of the National Gallery Prague. In May 1991, the palace experienced a major art theft when three men broke in and stole four Pablo Picasso paintings. The works were later recovered from an apartment and a railway station locker. There were later concerns the palace might be restituted to the church, but it was confirmed that National Gallery properties were exempt. Following an unsuccessful repair period during the COVID-19 pandemic closure, the palace reopened in late 2020.

The palace houses the permanent exhibition of European painting for the National Gallery Prague. The holdings encompass Italian art from the 14th and 15th centuries, as well as Renaissance and Baroque works. The collection also features Dutch, Flemish, and Netherlandish paintings spanning the 15th to 18th centuries, German paintings from the 15th to 18th centuries, German and Austrian works from the 17th and 18th centuries, and a smaller selection of 17th and 18th century French and Spanish art. The 2020 reinstallation was specifically designed to evoke the works displayed during the era of the Society of Patriotic Friends of Art.

The collection includes specific works by artists such as Alessandro Allori, Jacopo Bassano, and Luca Giordano for the Italian school. The Netherlandish and Flemish representation features Pieter II Brueghel, Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Rachel Ruysch, Gerard Ter Borch, Nicolaes Eliasz Pickenoy, and Hans Raphon. German and Austrian highlights include Hans Baldung Grien, Georg Flegel, Paul Troger, Johann Karl Loth, and Johann Michael Rottmayr, while the French and Spanish works include pieces by Pierre Mignard and Bartolome Esteban Murillo. Additionally, four Pablo Picasso paintings stolen in 1991 and subsequently recovered remain part of the history of the holdings: Mandolin and Glass of Pernod (1911), Still Life with a Goblet (1922), Port of Cadaques (1910), and Absinthe and Cards (1912).

Designed in a Renaissance and Baroque style that contrasted with the older Gothic buildings it replaced, the palace is two stories tall and consists of four wings arranged around a central courtyard. Because of the original split between the two Gothic houses, the main facade is divided into two sections. Very little of the Baroque interior survives, replaced by a mix of styles from various periods. Outside the west wing is a large garden elevated above the adjoining Deer Moat. The original Baroque appearance of the garden is unknown, and its modern form, which includes a pond and several sculptures, was created during the transfer of the palace to the National Gallery in 1947. The garden features a large stork by Jan Lauda and a bronze statue of a lion crushing a boa constrictor by Antoine-Louis Barye. Anna Masarykova reportedly maintained the garden during the early years of National Gallery ownership.

Sternberg Palace is situated on Hradcany Square in Prague 1, alongside other National Gallery annexes including the Salm and Schwarzenberg palaces. It has held the status of a cultural monument since 1964. The property is owned and operated by the National Gallery Prague, which confirmed its ownership following post-communist restitution discussions. The institution is open to the public as a major venue for the National Gallery's European art collections.