Friday, February 7, 2014

Museum #4: Bode Museum


Bode Museum
Am Kupfergraben
10117 Berlin
U- & S-Bahn Friedrichstrasse, S-Bahn Hackeschenmarkt





The showpiece at the pointy northern end of Museumsinsel (Museum Island), the Bode Museum is a star in every way. The neobaroque structure greets the city from three directions and lures the eye with its colonnaded, rounded form topped with two restored copper-covered cupolas. Built up against the edge of the island, it reminds me somewhat of the prow of a ship; and indeed it is an enormous, royal and majestic vessel of art.

Museumsinsel is a small island in the middle of the Spree River, and home to five museums built over roughly 70 years through the 19th century. Its variety of architectural styles and vast wealth of art spanning thousands of years has quite rightly gained it a Unesco World Heritage Site designation, and ensures it’s one of Berlin’s key attractions. The Bode Museum was the last museum to be built on the island, and opened in 1904 with the name Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum after the deceased emperor. Damaged during WWII, the museum was afterwards restored and renamed.

The museum was originally built to house Renaissance art, but these days is home to the incredible Sculpture Collection, the Museum of Byzantine Art and, on the second floor, the Münzkabinett coin collection. The trail through art history is long and intricate in this museum, leading you from early Byzantine to Italian Renaissance and neoclassicism. The range on display here is both enormous and impressive, from pale and lifelike marble statues of classical mythology, to large fireplaces and altarpieces; from small metalwork artefacts to large marble columns. The big names are here, too: watch for the tender Pazzi Madonna by Donatello. The depth, number and variety of art and artifacts makes it impossible to absorb it all in just one visit.

For me, the architecture itself is part of the great thrill of this museum. In the entrance beneath the main cupola a large bronze statue of Kaiser Wilhelm mounted on a steed takes centre stage, but it’s the design of the palace that takes all the attention. The enormous cupola soars above pale marble floors, pink marbled colonnades and sweeping staircases with gilded ornamentation. The space feels almost hallowed; it’s still and magnificent. This space is joined to the smaller, also lovely, cupola by a long basilica.

The gallery spaces run off the small cupola on the ground floor through unmarked dark-wood doors. Discrete signs next to them are the only indication that this is the way to the various collections. The experience of the Bode is a little like navigating a pick-a-path book that you might have had when you were a child. Which door will you choose? What will it lead you to? There’s a wonderful mazelike and secretive feeling to this layout. The marble floors are the restored originals, and don’t forget to look up as you work your way through the galleries to gaze at the original restored wood panelled ceilings. The experience here is full-bodied and three dimensional, as if you’re walking through art itself.