Vienna Gloriosa

Overview

From humble origins as a Roman military camp, Vienna achieved unparalleled power and prominence within the framework of the Holy Roman German Empire. 

Yet the city achieved unprecedented status - becoming a critical hinge between east and West - with the rise of the formidable Habsburg family in 1452, when Frederick Hapsburg lll was confirmed as the as Holy Roman Emperor. 

Vienna's ascent as one of the world's great cities naturally flowed through to its art and systems of patronage, and today, many of the city's museums and galleries can be traced back to that historic moment of royal and bourgeois patronage.  

Join art historian Tom Abbott for a visually spectacular lecture which explores three major Viennese collections, and which also considers the extraordinary spaces within which they are exhibited. A thrilling look at the world-famous Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien is included (which delights with the largest collection of Pieter Brueghel in the world); the grandiose baroque summer palace the Belvedere is also considered (which boasts treasures from art of the Vienna Modern, included Gustav Klimt‘s The Kiss); and finally the beautiful Leopold Museum is examined (which houses breathtaking textiles, furniture and paintings from the turn of the twentieth century).