Picture gallery
Noble families purposefully built their family galleries to pay tribute to their ancestors and to highlight the family's glorious past. John Pálffy had a family gallery located in the premises of today's picture gallery. Portraits of ancestors such as Paul Pálffy, Frances Khuen Pálffy, which are now part of the collections of Červený Kameň Museum, were stored here.
The picture gallery of the Bojnice castle is situated in a square tower. Originally it formed, as one of the four towers, a massive defense system built in the 15th century together with the castle wall. In the early 20th century it was rebuilt in its present Neo-Gothic form as a space for the family gallery. In the most recent remodelling, the Colli firm executed the ceiling and wall panelling in the picture gallery, both carved in walnut wood and detailed with inlaid floral motifs. The stained-glass windows with figures in Renaissance clothing set into the large window, were bought by count Pálffy in Paris in 1902.
The most important painting that can be seen in the Picture Gallery is currently the portrait of count John Pálffy from 1858, painted by the eminent German painter Karl Theodor von Piloty. It depicts count John Pálffy at the age of 29. The portrait was originally placed here in the picture gallery, above the door to the winter garden after the count's death. The painting was acquired under unknown circumstances by new owners and together with them it reached Canada in 1939. From Canada it returned in 2022 to its almost original place in the castle.
John XIV. Palffy, Karl T. von Piloty, oil on canvas, second half of the 19th century
The paintings on the walls date from the 16th to the 19th century and depict landscapes, figural compositions and religious motifs. The largest painting above the fireplace, "On the All Souls day", was painted by Herman Kaulbach in the second half of the 19th century.
