- Maria-Theresien-Platz
-
Kunsthistorisches Museum at Maria-Theresien-Platz, Vienna.
The Maria-Theresien-Platz of Vienna is a large square (Platz) joining the Ringstraße (Vienna's giant, round, central street) with the Museumsquartier, a museum of modern arts located in the former Imperial Stables. Facing each other from the sides of the square are two identical buildings, the Naturhistorisches Museum - Natural History Museum, and the Kunsthistorisches Museum - the Art History Museum. These two buildings are identical, save for the statuary on their façades. The Naturhistorisches' façade has statues depicting personifications of the various continents known to Austrian science at the time - Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, while the Kunsthistorisches façade features famous European artists - such as the Dutch Bruegel, among others.
The Natural History and Art History museums and the square adjoining them were built in 1891, and in the center of the square is a large statue depicting Empress Marie-Theresa of Austria-Hungary, namesake of the square. The Modern Art Museum in the former Imperial Stables shows contemporary works that some may consider controversial. The three museums are all worthwhile destinations for tourists.
The Kunsthistorisches Museum has a magnificent collection. There are some very famous works by the Northern European masters, such as Bruegel's Tower of Babel, as well as an extensive collection of ancient world art. The Egyptian collection (Aegyptisches Sammlung) houses some fascinating mummified forms, stone carvings and the tomb of an Egyptian prince that was transported to Vienna and reassembled for Emperor Franz Joseph. On the stairwell's roof are some wonderful frescoes by famous Austrian artist Gustav Klimt.
The Naturhistorisches Museum has wonderful displays of butterflies and other insects, and an extensive preserved and stuffed animal collection - the most poignant examples of which include a Przewalskii's horse, a baby Javanese rhinoceros and a case of dodo remains. Also notable is the museum's famous Mikrotheater, showing slides of microscopic organisms, its two spider crabs which were sent to Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary by the Japanese Emperor as a gift, and the first ever human depiction of an underwater scene made from life observation, and the diving bell from which it was made. On the stairwell you can see paintings of Emperor Franz Joseph, Empress Maria Theresa and her stuffed pet lap dog, a miniature hound.
Categories:- Squares in Vienna
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
