Sternberg Palace

Václav Vojtěch, Count of Sternberg, began building a new mansion near Prague Castle at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. The palace remained the family’s property until 1811 when it was purchased by the Society of Patriotic Friends of the Arts, the predecessor of today’s National Gallery of Prague. The Society was housed there until 1781 and returned to its former seat again only after 1945. The Sternberg Palace’s garden is a hidden treasure. There is a permanent exhibition of European paintings in the palace. It comprises a collection of Italian paintings from the 14th and 15th centuries, collections of Dutch, Flemish, and Netherlandish paintings from the 15th to 18th centuries, significant artists of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, and a smaller collection of French and Spanish art from the 17th and 18th centuries.