Vienna’s Museum of Fine Arts

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Vienna's Museum of Fine Arts

Lacrimosa by the Vienna Mozart Orchestra

 

I know that the title of this post doesn’t sound very exciting, but its official name of the Kunsthistorisches Museum wouldn’t have sounded any better would it? Apart from that, in my recent blog about The Ringstrasse I promised to give you a separate post about this magnificent museum, and so not one to let anyone down, here it is.

People’s interest in museums are bound to be subjective, but if there’s one museum in Vienna I really think you shouldn’t miss, then it has to be this one. By their very nature, museums are not necessarily the most exciting things to talk about, but before you walk away, you might be pleased to learn that I’ll be giving you more pictures than text, and you can always find out more on the ‘interweb’ if you want to know about anything specific.

Students in the Paintings Gallery XIV on the First Floor

If you remember, in the Ringstrasse post I explained how the Fine Arts and Natural History Museums were part of the Kaiserforum that was planned by Emperor Franz Joseph I. The architects, Gottfried Semper and Baron Karl von Hasenauer, produced a design which included twin neo-Renaissance buildings on opposite sides of Maria-Theresien-Platz, with a statue of the Empress in the middle. Built to house the Habsburgs extensive art collections, they were officially opened by the Emperor in 1891, twenty years after construction first began.

The Museum of Fine Arts

The Fine Arts Museum entrance hall gives you a taste of things to come: A circular opening in the ceiling gives a tantalizing glimpse up into the Cupola which is reached by ascending the marble staircase where Antonio Canova’s statue of Theseus Slaying the Centaur is flanked by two imperial lions. On reaching the Cupola Hall you’ll be blown away by the sumptuous surroundings, and you’ll need some strong willpower not to sit and have a coffee in amongst the ornate marble pillars, neo-baroque stucco relief, murals and gold leaf decorations.

Architecturally, the Cupola Hall is the highlight of the building, and you might want to recover here with another coffee after visiting the galleries. Spread over three floors, the museum covers 5 collections.

 

RAISED GROUND FLOOR

  • Egyptian and Near Eastern antiquities
  • Greek and Roman antiquities
  • Kunstkammer – An eclectic collection of artifacts

FLOOR 1

  • Picture Gallery – The impressive imperial art collection

FLOOR 2

  • Coins

You can’t see everything in one go, and I didn’t, but below is a selection of what I did.

POSTED – DECEMBER 2022

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Originally posted 2022-12-14 16:15:50.

22 thoughts on “Vienna’s Museum of Fine Arts”

    1. Easymalc Post author

      It certainly is Shey. Thanks, as always for taking a look. You’ve got some stamina where my posts are concerned that’s for sure ⭐

      Reply ↓
  4. Eunice

    Wow!! The Cupola Hall and Vestibule Ceiling are amazing – I could spend hours just looking at the detail. The Egyptian Collection looks like it’s very interesting and I like the paintings – not too keen on the Arcimboldo ones though. I doubt I will ever get to Vienna so thanks for this insight into what is obviously a fabulous museum 🙂

    Reply ↓
    1. Easymalc Post author

      Thanks Eunice. It’s quite a collection isn’t it? I’m no artist, but I’ve come to enjoy art now that I understand the styles and artists more. You may not get to Vienna, but I doubt I will get to the Lancaster Canal now either 🙂

      Reply ↓
  5. gabychops

    Thank you, Malc, for the magnificent tour of the museum that I will, sadly, never see. So many famous paintings and objects. The building looks imposing, no wonder it took 20 years to construct. Your erudite knowledge is always to the fore in your excellent posts. You mention coffee where possible, adds to the ambience of the place. Thank you.

    Joanna.

    Reply ↓
    1. Easymalc Post author

      Your comments Joanna are always far too generous, but I love to see them 😊 Thank you.

      You say that you’ll never get to see these wonderful objects in the flesh, and I do wonder if your health may be a part of the reason for that. I sincerely hope that’s not the case, but we’ve all still got our WordPress friends to communicate with haven’t we? 😊

      Reply ↓

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