After a nice day off from class due to the long and exciting day at the Klosterneuburg Abbey, the class met up at the Kunsthistorisches museum. This museum is a world famous art museum that contains most of the Habsburgs royal art collection. It is built in the city center along the Ringstraße. The Ringstraße is a circular road which used to be the old city walls that protected Vienna. The city walls were built during the 13th century and were funded by the ransom money paid by England for the return of Richard I of England. The city walls successfully defended Vienna against many invasions but by the 18th century they became obsolete. In 1857 Franz Joseph I of Austria issued his decree “Es ist Mein Wille” or It is My will to demolish the city walls and instead create a massive boulevard. In his decree Franz Joseph I explained that this boulevard was meant to show the grandeur and glory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Kunsthistorisches Museum was founded in 1872 by Franz Joseph I and the architects were Gottfried Semper and Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer.
The museum is filled with priceless art. It includes work from Jan van Eyck, Albrecht Durer, Giuseppe Arcimboldo and Pieter Brueghel the Elder. Studying them from a book or looking at them online is nothing compared to actually seeing them in person. Throughout my life I had seen this works in art books and at home. Now that I had the chance to witness the paintings first hand I felt grateful and excited. Being able to see the paintings first hand made them come alive.
In class we were learning about the different types of art produced during the Reformation and the Counter Reformation. Though are tour guide was a bit dry at times I remember her going over the artists Rebrandt and Peter Paul Rubens. Rebrandt was a Dutch painter born in 1606. He was considered a great master and was know for his painting style that focused on portraiture and narrative paintings. Instead of making people in his paintings larger then life he tries to make them as real life as possible. This more subdued style reflects the Reformation in its attempt to get rid of the excess of the church, make the church more real and personable. Two examples are “Philosopher in Meditation” and a “Self-Portrait”
On the opposite side is the Flemish painter Rubens his paintings emphasized color and movement. Rubens would paint altarpieces and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects. His paintings were vivid and filled with energy. Two examples are “The Raising of the Cross” and “The Massacre of the Innocents”
One of my favorite paintings is Pieter Bruegels painting “The Fight Between Carnival and Lent” I feel this painting represents the differences between the towns people and the people of the church. It shows how people like to indulge in life’s pleasantries while the church tries to reign in that behavior. The “battle” between the church and the people is exemplified by the fatman on the barrel and the frail churchman in a chair. It looks like they are at a jousting match and are about to go head to head.
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