The collection of European paintings holds a special place at the National Museum in Warsaw. There are still, despite losses suffered during World War II, more than a dozen  paintings which were the first historical objects of the Museum when it opened in 1862. At that time, 43 works by old Netherlandish, Italian, Dutch, Flemish and German masters were purchased at Johann Peter Weyer’s auction and at Brasseur’s antique shop in Cologne. They all became the basis of the future collection of the National Museum. Amongst them there are paintings by Bernardino Pinturicchio, Cornelis van Haarlem, Jacob Jordaens, and Gerbrandt van den Eeckhout.

Among the presented works, there are purchases and gifts added after World War II, paintings  saved from Stanislaus August Poniatowski’s gallery, works of art taken over by the state from private collections and museums, as well as valuable deposits of the Museum - Palace at Wilanów. The body of paintings compiled in this way is representative of the individual painting schools in their historic development from the 14th until the end of the 19th century.

The Gallery of Foreign Painting consists of two separate permanent exhibitions: the Gallery of Southern Schools (Italian and French painting) on the first floor and the Gallery of Northern Schools (Netherlandish, German, Dutch and Flemish painting) on the second floor. On the small balcony galleries, visitors can admire selected works of Austrian and German 17th – 18th century painting and, on a rotational basis, 19th century painting of various schools, mainly French and German.