Wars, religious struggles, global trade and groundbreaking scientific discoveries: the 17th century was an era of upheaval and dynamism, but also of great art. Painters such as Rubens, Rembrandt, Murillo, Ribera and Strozzi skilfully captured the atmosphere of their time with brush and paint, in light and shadow. Their works are among the highlights of any museum collection, including the Wallraf.

Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640), the Antwerp master who spent his childhood in Cologne, is represented here with several paintings from all his creative periods. His large-format Juno and Argus still impresses with its painterly brilliance and breathtaking visual power. Rubens' pupils and colleagues Jacob Jordaens, Frans Snijders and Antonis van Dyck are also prominently represented in the Wallraf Collection. Alongside monumental altarpieces and gallery paintings, the Cologne display also reveals the collectors' passion for meticulously painted, small-format cabinet paintings. Works by Adam Elsheimer, Jan Brueghel the Elder and Gerrit Dou are a feast for the eyes.

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606 - 1669), probably the most famous Dutch artist, appears in his late self-portrait. This enigmatic masterpiece is one of the highlights of the Baroque collection. In addition, major works by Rembrandt's colleagues Frans Hals, Gerrit van Honthorst, Jacob van Ruisdael, Willem Kalf, Jan Steen and Pieter Claesz introduce us to the narrative cosmos of Dutch painting, which then as now opens a window on the world.

Works from the last decades of the 17th century, when painters such as Gerard de Lairesse celebrated a courtly, classical ideal of beauty, mark the end of the Baroque era. In the 'Blue Salon', we turn our attention to the art of the 18th century, the Age of Enlightenment. Paintings by François Boucher, Hyacinthe Rigaud, Nicolas de Largillière, Angelika Kauffmann, Anton Graff and Joseph Wright of Derby are on display.