Kunsthistorisches Museum: Vienna’s best art gallery

Literally standing for ‘Museum of Art History’, the term Kunsthistorisches refers to the best art museum as well as institution of Vienna, which is also called the Museum of Fine Arts. The Kunsthistorisches Museum is among the world’s superb galleries of decorative as well as fine arts. Topped with a 60-m dome of eight sides, this rectangular-shaped attraction is nestled in the cordially majestic palace soaring from the Ringstraße area. The museum and the palace are richly decorated with gold leaf, paintings, marbles, as well as stucco embellishments rendering the entire 100-year-old sandstone building a stunning architectural sight.

The 19th-century Kunsthistorisches Museum is among the most significant European museums and is famous for its notable Habsburgs’ art collection. In all, seven different collections occupy the museum: Picture Gallery, Coin Cabinet, Archives, Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Library, Greek and Roman Antiquities, and Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection.

The latter one is among the world’s most vital collections from the Ancient Egypt with more than 10,000 pieces that are no less than 4000 years old. Whatever you see here belong to the regions of Egypt, Nubia, eastern Mediterranean, and Mesopotamia. Divided into four big sections of cultural history, writings, funerary cult, and sculpture; this collection’s main attractions are the divine figures, cosmetic articles, opulent Offering Chapel, grave stelae, animal mummies, several sarcophagi, Giza’s Reserve Head, illustrations of the Book of the Dead, as well as the Ischtar Gate’s lion portrait from Babylon.

Over 2000 items fill up the Greek and Roman Antiquities that seem to be more than three millennia old. Most of them are either medieval artifacts or are Cyprus’ ceramics of the Bronze Age. Here, look for the vintage cameos of Gemma Augustea, Votive Statue of a Man by Cyrpus, vases such as the Brygos Cup, bronze tablet, Theseus Mosaic of Salzburg, the treasure troves with the Nagyszentmiklós’ riches, and the Amazonian Sarcophagus.

Above all collections in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the section of the sculpture as well as decorative arts is totally supreme in its own right! Everything here is of peculiar quality and certainly it has to be as most of the items here are from the royal court. The most beloved items here are the goldsmith works such as Benvenuto’s Saliera, unusual ivory items, stunning clocks, notable games, figurines of Krumau Madonna, virtuoso containers of stone, bronze sculptures, complicated automatons, and great scientific instruments.

Regarded as the most significant zone of its kind on Earth, the Picture Gallery houses the superb Venetian, German Renaissance, early Netherlandish, as well as Flemish paintings. Look here for the Vermeer’s masterpieces as well as of the works by the Italy’s Baroque painters, Rembrandt, Caravaggio, and Raphael. For a look at the different types and forms of old money, head to the Coin Cabinet that is one of the five largest coin houses on Earth. You will come across paper money, orders, coins, medallions of which several are a part of the permanent collection kept in three halls dedicated to the medal history, history of coin and paper money, and special exhibitions respectively.

Maps, texts, and manuscripts are in high volumes at the Library, while the Archive is the home of 20 sets of departmental files, general administration collection, manuscripts, historical maps, bequests, accounts, obituary notices, old photos, official regulations, posters, newspapers, and audio-visual media that reveal the past of this museum. To visit the Archive zone, you must have an oral or written permission taken in advance from the museum’s office.

Timings

• Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm
• Thursdays until 9 pm
• Coin Cabinet: until 6 pm

Location

Maria-Theresien-Platz,

7th District/Neubau,

Vienna,

Austria.

Entry fees

• €12 per adult
• Free for all those who are under 19
• €3 extra for the guided tour

Facilities

Café and restaurant specializing in Thursday Gourmet Evening and Sunday Brunch.