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10-579: The Belvedere palaces were the summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736). The ensemble was built in the early eighteenth century by the famous Baroque architect, Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt , and comprises the Upper and Lower Belvedere, with the Orangery and Palace Stables, as well as extensive gardens. The Belvedere houses what was the first public museum in Austria, today containing one of

20-540: A book translated into English from the original German, celebrating 300 years of the museum and its collection in 2023. Following extensive adaptation and remodelling, the highlights of the collections of medieval and Baroque art (previously in the Lower Belvedere) have been placed on display at the Upper Belvedere since spring 2008. For the first time, the entire scope of the permanent collection, from

30-516: The 21er Haus as well as the Gustinus Ambrosi Museum. The Belvedere's art collection presents an almost complete overview of the development of art in Austria and, thus, an insight into the country's history. The world's largest collection of Gustav Klimt 's paintings lies at the heart of the presentation of Art around 1900 , on show at the Upper Belvedere. Its highlights are Klimt's paintings, The Kiss (1908) and Judith and

40-704: The Baroque Museum in the Lower Belvedere (opened in 1923), the Gallery of 19th Century Art at the Upper Belvedere (from 1924), and the Modern Gallery at the Orangery (from 1929). The Belvedere's collection of medieval art was first exhibited at the Orangery next to the Lower Belvedere in 1953. In March of 1950, a major fire broke out in the “Gold Cabinet” in the north-eastern corner pavilion of

50-613: The Head of Holofernes (1901), and masterpieces by Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka . Key works of French Impressionism and the greatest collection of Viennese Biedermeier art are further attractions at the museum. The two Belvedere palaces housed an array of artworks even when they were the summer residence of the art patron and collector, Prince Eugene. After the Prince's death, the Habsburgs acquired some of his collections together with

60-703: The Salzburg Rupertinum and the Museum der Moderne on the Mönchsberg, was director of the Belvedere between 2007 and 2016. She helped to position the Belvedere as a museum of Austrian art in an international context. Stella Rollig who served as Austrian Federal Curator for the Fine Arts from 1994 to 1996, is currently the general director of the Belvedere since 2017. She and Christian Humer edited

70-678: The Upper Belvedere was reopened to the public, showing works by Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka, and other major Austrian artists. In the years after the Second World War , there were many acquisitions and the museum was expanded and modernized. The Österreichische Galerie Belvedere is today one of the Austrian Federal Museums (Bundesmuseen) and since 2000 has been a vollrechtsfähige "wissenschaftliche Anstalt" (a legally independent public research/scientific institution). Agnes Husslein , formerly director of

80-518: The Upper Belvedere, which had already been damaged by bombing during World War II Some of the rooms and artworks destroyed in that fire were depicted by artists who had painted and/or photographed the interior and its decor earlier in the 20th century, such as the painter Josef Pögl (1867-1956) whose work is currently displayed as part of the Imperial Treasury Collection. In 1955, after years of rebuilding and renovation,

90-526: The greatest collections of Austrian art dating from the Middle Ages to the present day,complemented by the works of international artists. At the Upper Belvedere, visitors not only encounter artworks drawn from over five hundred years of art history but can also experience the magnificent staterooms. In addition to the Lower and Upper Belvedere, the museum has further sites at Prince Eugene's town palace and

100-491: The palaces. Various parts of the imperial art collection were subsequently placed on display at the Belvedere from 1781 onwards. In 1903, the state's "Moderne Galerie" was opened at the Lower Belvedere. After the fall of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the Upper Belvedere and the Orangery were converted into museums as well. The Österreichische Galerie (Austrian Gallery), as the museum was named in 1921, came to comprise

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