Several sculptures honor Franz Joseph, the emperor who united Austria and Hungary. More about the woman, Sissi, behind the move tomorrow.
Gustav Klimt painted the insets depicting different periods of art above the grand staircase. Egyptian is seen here.
The collection and galleries, several devoted to a single artist, are huge.
I couldn't wait to see the Pieter Bruegel room. Nobody does detail or the daily life of peasants better than this 16th century Northern European painter. Note to the Upper Belvedere: the Kunst Historiches Museum doesn't need a selfie room because it permits photos of much older masterpieces. Go figure!
One painting depicts children playing more than 80 games. Here are just a few:
He painted the "Tower of Babel," too.
Chris wanted to check out the Vermeer. Only 34 paintings are attributed to his hand.
Only Thom would notice how Caravaggio painted fingernails (see the glint on the thumb?). He was determined to find a manicure before leaving Vienna.
Would you believe Rubens painted this Medusa? It's so frightening, I really did almost turn to stone.
Our visit put faces to the names of queens who have interested me of late. Like Marie Theresa, the only female Hapsburg empress and mother to 16 children
. . . including Marie Antoinette, who barely made it to the party (she was #15)! After touring much of the Imperial Palace, it isn't difficult to understand where she got her sense of entitlement and why she lost her head as a result.
Maria Theresa presides outside the Kunst Historisches Museum, too.
Thanks to Hilary Mantel, I couldn't miss Hans Holbein's portrait of Anne Boleyn. Vanessa Redgrave, Genevieve Bujold and Claire Foy all added considerable beauty to another queen who lost her head, for a different reason: she couldn't give birth to a single son (Marie Theresa sired five!). Queening for women is a dangerous business.
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