The long red-walled gallery of Italian painting is the spine of the museum. Walk it slowly, in one direction only, and you will trace two hundred years of human ambition.
Why this gallery matters
Between the late fifteenth and the early seventeenth century, Italian painters solved problems that had defeated artists for a thousand years: how to render skin, distance, and feeling at once.
Leonardo and his circle
Beyond the famous portrait, look for the smaller Leonardos: a Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, a young John the Baptist. The smile is the same — and the master is more visible without the crowd.
Raphael's poise
Raphael painted faces that look intelligent without effort. Stand far away and approach slowly: the calm only deepens.
The Venetians
Titian and Veronese paint with colour rather than line. Look for the loose, almost rough brushwork up close — then step back, and watch it resolve into silk and skin.