| Kunsthistorisches Museum (picture by Peter Watts) |  |
Kunsthistorisches Museum
Kunsthistorisches Museum
This image shows the outside of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, taken from Maria-Theresien-Platz in Vienna.Kunsthistorisches Museum
Over half a million people a year visit the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Containing one of the largest collections of paintings in the world, it was built to house the works collected by the Habsburgs monarchs. Originally the art was housed in the Hofburg and the Belvedere, but 2 new buildings were built just off the new Ringstrasse, the Kunsthistorisches Museum for the art and the Natural History Museum, almost identical in construction, for nature. They line the sides of Maria-Theresien-Platz linking the Hofburg to the MusemsQartier.
The nature of the collection reflects the personal tastes, and area of rule, of the Habsburgs themselves, and the majority of the art is by 16C and 17C masters. Most people come here to see the collection of the Bruegels, which is the largest in the world. There is also a large Venetian collection which includes works by Tintoretto, Titian, Veronese and Velázquez.
To give an indication of the vastness of the collection, the Gemäldegalerie contains some 800 paintings, yet this is only 10% of the entire collection. It is impossible to cover the whole in a single visit, but some of the highlights not to be missed include the Hunters in the Snow (1565) by Pieter Brugel, The Salt Cellar (1540) by Benvenuto Cellini made of gold and depicting the earth and sea united with an earth goddess and Neptune.
In the Egyptian collection on the ground floor is a figure of King Thutmosis III from 1460 BC. The ground also contains a Roman carving in onyx of Emperor Augusts dressed as Jupiter seated next to Roma.
For further information about the Museum and visiting details please visit the Kunsthistorichses Museum website.
Address:
Maria-Theresien-Platz
1010 Wien
Phone : +43(1)525240
Transport:
U-Bhan : (U2) Museumsqartier, (U2, U3) Volsktheatre
Bus / Tram : 1, 2, 57A, D, J
