In 1967, Jakob Briner donated a collection of Old Masters from the Renaissance to Neoclassicism to his native city and provided support for the collection's further expansion. The focus is on 17th century Dutch painting with historical scenes, portraits, genre paintings, landscapes, seascapes and still lifes.

In 1998 the City of Winterthur received the Emil S. Kern collection of portrait miniatures, over 500 works that provide a valid overview of European portraiture from the 16th to the 19th centuries with the emphasis on developments in England, France, Austria and Switzerland.