Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna
6th December 2006
Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum is one of the most significant museums of its kind of the world, and the building itself is no less important than the artworks inside.
Found on Vienna's famous Ringstrasse road, the 19th century museum was designed in an Italian Renaissance style at the request of Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I, and features a 60 foot dome and marble interiors.
The Emperor wanted a museum to provide suitable housing for his extensive collection of Hapsburg art, and it is this collection that provides the building's main attraction.
An entire room of Hapsburg portraits, painted by Velazquez, provides a fascinating insight into the personalities that ruled Austria for over six centuries, with other works such as Caravaggio's David with the Head of Goliath and Vermeer's The Artist in his Studio found in the main picture gallery.
Visitors can investigate hundreds of years of European culture via the museums other galleries and exhibitions, which include collections of Greek and Roman artefacts, sculptures and fine arts, medieval weapons and armour, historic coins and Egyptian antiquities.
Temporary exhibitions such as the current examination of the work of Bellini, Giorgione and Titian mean that there is always something new to experience, and provide visitors with an unrivalled insight into European art history.
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