Belvedere

The Belvedere was the Baroque palace of Prince Eugene of Savoy, defeater of the Turks and now is a museum displaying the art collection of the Habsburgs, especially Maria Theresia.
Early 17th Century Art
During the 17th century, the rise of Martin Luther and Protestantism greatly impacted art. Since, there is less of a need for art, Protestant artists need new outlets to make money, before they would pain alters, frescoes, and portraits of the holy family. Because of this, a hierarchy of painting emerges. The most important paintings are historical of biblical or ancient Roman scenes, second there are genre paintings of common life, third are portraits, last there are landscapes and still life paintings. Protestant artists turn to painting portraits in order to make money.
The Imperial Count Mortiz Christian Fries and his Family 1805
In this painting the family is almost portrayed like the holy family, with Mary, Jesus, and Joseph. This style of painting also brings in the viewer through the woman; she is staring out at the observer, making the painting more personable. In this period, only the very rich could afford to have their portraits done.photo: courtesy of google images
Rocky Landscape in the Elbsandsteinegebirge 1822
Landscape paintings become popular in the Renaissance and there popularity have continued to the modern day. This painting by Casper David Friederich captures the mystery of nature. This painting still has religious connotations and signifies are need to get back to God through nature. Furthermore in this period, there is a reversion back to Catholicism and the need to return to the heyday of the Holy Roman Empire. During this time, the English gardens are also preferred to the manicured look of the French gardens. This painting signifies societies movement from reason and French imperialism to passion. Friederich’s works are characterized by his extreme horizon lines; they are either very high or very low, in this particular painting they are very low.photo: courtesy of google images
Reading the Will 1839
The significance of this painting by Danhauser is that it allows us and historians to view common life scenes in the past. Since there were no photographs and we cannot go back in time to observe life in the past, we must turn to art and paintings to conjure of hypotheses of common life dealings. Through pieces like these, we can observe the popular furniture styles and dress. We can also determine daily life dealings: for instance what they did during leisure time, if they had to get water from a well.photo: courtesy of google images
Rudolf von Arthaber with his Children Rudolf, Emilie, Gustav 1837
This painting fits into the Biedermeier period (1815-1848), where there is a retreat to idyllic family life. It is the movement of the middle class. In this painting, the family is obviously emphasized. The father is acting very paternal and fully involved in his three children; however there is an obvious missing piece, the mother. In the Biedermeier period, there is a change in the role of women. Before, women were portrayed in a very lustful way, but now women are portrayed in a much more civilized way and we can see that this family is mourning the missing link in their family because of her intellect through the melancholy feeling of the painting.
Baroque Style
This is the room in the Belvedere where the Austrian state contract was signed in 1955. The style of this room is baroque. Especially in the ceiling, one can see many of the characteristics of the Baroque style. The frescos on the ceiling attempt to fool the eye. The viewer cannot tell how high the ceiling is and it is difficult to tell when sculpture ends and painting begins the visual transition between the two is flawless.
photo: courtesy of google images
The Wounded Man 1866
This painting by Gustave Courbet is an example of art’s transition into impressionism. The techniques used are much more exaggerated. In impressionist art, the artists try and create an illusion between two-dimensional and three-dimensional foregrounds and backgrounds. There is also an exaggeration of brush strokes to make them completely visible to the viewer; however it is not as dramatic here because this cannot be considered an impressionist piece, just one that is at the cusp of the transition into impressionist art. The 19th century also ushers in the people’s desire to sit and contemplate art, thus art pieces become more thought provoking and allow for more interpretation.photo: courtesy of google images
Fishermen on the Seine at Poissy 1882
This piece is the epitome of impressionist art. The father of impressionist art, Monet, painted it. In impressionist art, the paint itself becomes important not only the figures drawn. Impressionist art favors the exaggeration of brush strokes to create blurriness when one is near the piece and clearness when one is far from the piece. This piece is just very relaxing and I can picture someone placing this in their living room by the fireplace so that they could just sit down and enjoy its serenity.
photo: courtesy of google images
The Kiss
This is the main attraction of the Belvedere and maybe all art in Vienna. It is paralleled to the Mona Lisa in its fame and popularity. Klimt did this piece in the middle period of his three art phases and very obviously fits into the Art Noveau and Secessionist style, especially evident in all the gold elements. Here it is obvious that there is a transition from three to two-dimensional art because this piece is done mostly in two dimensions. Klimt painted The Kiss after his university scandal and needed a piece to come out of the hole of disapproval that society had placed on him. Klimt uses very small detailed patterns to separate the man from the women. The women is put together using many tiny little circles of different sizes and the man is put together using many tiny little blocks of different sizes. This painting really put Klimt on track as one of the most influential artists of all time.