Paintings in the staircase of the Kunsthistorisches Museum explained

The staircase of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna is equipped with spandrel and intercolumniation paintings by Gustav Klimt, Ernst Klimt and Franz Matsch, lunette pictures by Hans Makart and a ceiling painting by Mihály Munkácsy.

History

In the middle of 1881 the committee in charge of building in Vienna commissioned Hans Makart with the overall equipment of the large staircase. However, since Makart died in 1884, only the lunette pictures had been completed by then and could be affixed to the walls of the museum. The committee had to look for other artists for the missing spandrel and intercolumniation paintings. In 1885 Hans Canon was initially entrusted with the ceiling painting, but he also died a few months later. Finally, Mihály Munkácsy was commissioned to paint the ceiling with Apotheosis of the Renaissance, which was completed in the middle of 1890. The Maler-Compagnie, in which the brothers Gustav and Ernst Klimt as well as Franz Matsch had merged, was to carry out the spandrel and intercolumniation pictures. The works were completed in 1891.[1] Concept and naming of the interior came from Albert Ilg.[2]

Ceiling painting: Mihály Munkácsy

Munkácsy's Apotheosis of the Renaissance seems like a building of the Renaissance with a dome, which is opened to the sky. In a loggia one can see the pope, below Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. Tizian gives lessons in painting, and Paolo Veronese stands on a framework. Personalized representations of fame and glory of the arts hover above - Pheme and Glory.

Plan

100x100px|альт=100x100px|альт=100x100px|альт=
MakartMichaelangeloMakartAllegory of paintingMakartTitian
100px100px
Gustav KlimtRoman and Venetian

Quattrocento

Gustav KlimtAncient Greece

and Egypt

Gustav KlimtOld Italian art
100x100px|альт=MakartRubensErnst KlimtHolland and Flemish schoolErnst KlimtGerman RenaissanceMakartVan Dyck100x100px|альт=
100x100px|альт=MakartRembrandtFranz MatschBarocco and RococoErnst KlimtSpain and NetherlandsMakartVelazquez100x100px|альт=
100x100px|альт=MakartRaphael100pxGustav KlimtFlorentine

Cinquecento and Quattrocento

Ernst KlimtItalian High RenaissanceMakartLeonardo da Vinci100x100px|альт=
Mihály Munkácsy. Apotheosis of the Renaissance
Franz MatschKarolingian and Burgundian timeFranz MatschRoman and Byzantine art, Roman AntiqueFranz MatschNorth Gothic in the Late Middle Ages
100x100px|альт=100x100px|альт=100x100px|альт=
MakartDurerMakartAllegory of sculptureMakartHolbein

References

  1. Otmar Rychlik: Gustav Klimt, Franz Matsch und Ernst Klimt im Kunsthistorischen Museum. Catalog for the special exhibition (Klimt-Bridge), page 12. Edition Kunst, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna 2012.
  2. http://press.khm.at/fileadmin/content/KHM/Presse/2012/Klimt/PT_Klimt_Kriller_dt.pdf Das Unsichtbare sichtbar machen/Make the invisible visible.

External links