The story
The dukes of Mecklenburg built this collection in the 18th century, and their taste ran two ways. One was Dutch and Flemish painting, snapped up when it was cheap: a room of Frans Hals, plus Fabritius and the circle of Rembrandt.
The other was a passion for one French artist, Jean-Baptiste Oudry, court painter to Louis XV and famous for animals and hunts. Duke Christian Ludwig II bought Oudrys by the wagonload, and Schwerin now holds the largest collection of his work anywhere, including life-size portraits of the king's hounds and a startling white swan defending its nest.
The paintings hang in a purpose-built gallery of 1882 across the water from Schwerin's fairytale castle, and the Oudry rooms in particular feel like a single royal obsession preserved whole.
