Vibrant reboot freshens Northern European galleries at Cleveland Museum of Art

THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER
By Steven Litt

Gallery 214 at the Cleveland Museum of Art features a powerful recent addition to the permanent collection: "The Resurrection of Christ," 1622, Johann Konig (German, 1586-1642), painted in oil on copper. Photo: Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – When you spin through the permanent galleries at the Cleveland Museum of Art, it’s tempting to say to yourself been here, seen that. But part of the fun of visiting the museum is trying to figure out what’s new and different. The institution frequently rotates objects on and off view or inserts newly acquired artworks. Permanent doesn’t mean static. Three newly reinstalled galleries focusing on 17th and 18th-century northern European art, numbered 213, 214 and 215, are a visually delicious case in point. The reconceived galleries trace European art history from the early 1600s in the Netherlands to the late 1600s and early 1700s in France, with a stopover in between that surveys religious art in German-speaking countries in the 17th and 18th centuries. [More]