Schmetterlinghaus and the Kunsthistoriches Museum

Tuesday, August 10


Class was cancelled this morning so Diane and I took advantage of the opportunity to visit something on our bonus list.  We chose to visit the Schmetterlinghaus or the Imperial Butterfly House.  It was really an amazing place.  It was hot and humid but well worth it.  It consists of a beautiful glass greenhouse on the side of the Hofburg filled with hundreds of butterflies.  Not only were the butterflies beautiful but the plant life as well.  It is a small tropical oasis in the middle of Vienna!  There were butterflies of every color as well as exotic flowers.

Then we had our tour with Dr. O at the Art History Museum.  She led us through its large collections.  We started with the collection of paintings from north of the Alps.  First was an altar by Albrecht Durer named the Adoration of the Trinity.  It is a piece of "art in whole" meaning the design both the painting and the frame were Durer's.  While the frame is a reproduction of the original (as the original is in Germany) the painting is the original and as Dr. O pointed out, the painting is more important than the frame.  This painting demonstrates the skill of the northern painters as they seamlessly integrate human figures into landscapes.  After Durer, came Bruegel, Rubens, Vermeer, and Rembrandt among others.  

Then it was off to the southern side full of Italian masters.  Here we viewed Caravaggio, Titan, and Rafael's Madonna of the Meadow.  We also viewed the intriguing works of Guiseppe Arcimboldo.  He incorporated everyday objects, such as fruits of the sumer harvest in his 1563 work appropriately named Summer, which is a portrait of Emperor Rudolf II as Vertumnus.  His imaginative portraits demonstrate that he was far ahead of his time.  

Even though this is a daunting museum due to its size and the importance of its collections, I cannot wait to return here and take my time carefully going through each room at my very slow pace.  Tomorrow we head for the Alps!  We won't have internet where we are staying so I'll write there and post when I get back.  


Today's German word: 
"Autobahn"=highway