{"id":13473,"date":"2019-04-17T05:29:18","date_gmt":"2019-04-17T04:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=13473"},"modified":"2025-10-11T19:26:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T18:26:35","slug":"history-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/belvedere-sites\/history-exhibition\/","title":{"rendered":"History of Belvedere"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/historysmall.jpg\" alt=\"19th-century Belvedere photo\" class=\"wp-image-13475\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/historysmall.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/historysmall-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Most people visit Belvedere for the art and architecture. But if you&#8217;re wondering how both came to be&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Palaces date back to the early 1700s<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Built by Prince Eugene of Savoy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wall chart presents the chronology of the buildings &amp; institution<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chart is in English and German<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Book <a rel=\"sponsored\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/en\/belvedere-palace-tickets-l145892\/?partner=visitingvienna&amp;tq_campaign=LG_BelVenue\">Upper Belvedere tickets<\/a>* online<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sightseeing\/vienna-museums\/belvedere\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"3308\">Belvedere info &amp; overview<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Belvedere&#8217;s origins<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/upperbelvedere1738.jpg\" alt=\"Engraving of Upper Belvedere from 1737\" class=\"wp-image-58911\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/upperbelvedere1738.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/upperbelvedere1738-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Copper engraving of Upper Belvedere in a 1737 publication; drawn by Salomon Kleiner, engraved by Johann August Corvinus and published by Johann Andreas d. \u00c4. Pfeffel; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 105765\/129, excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Built between 1717 and 1723, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/belvedere-sites\/upper-belvedere-palace\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"3521\">Upper Belvedere palace<\/a> started life as the purely ceremonial residence of the military genius, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/prince-eugene-savoy\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"58031\">Prince Eugene of Savoy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eugene&#8217;s actual residence lay at the other end of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/belvedere-sites\/baroque-gardens\/\">main Belvedere gardens<\/a>: the U-shaped <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/belvedere-sites\/lower-belvedere\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"3384\">Lower Belvedere palace<\/a> was built in 1716 under the watchful eye of architect and military engineer, Johann Lukas Hildebrandt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A lot of us have crockery for daily use and the crockery we bring out for visitors. Eugene seemingly applied the same principle to palaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It still shocks me to realise that the upper palace was largely representational. Imagine building a second, more ostentatious house on your property just so you can better impress visitors and have more room for the vol-au-vents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With Upper Belvedere largely for show, then, Lower Belvedere served more pragmatic functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though if that sounds like the lower palace was all bare walls and dustbins, you couldn\u2019t be farther from the truth. A prince likes to live in decorative splendour.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"385\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/belvedereold.jpg\" alt=\"Front of Belvedere in the 19th century\" class=\"wp-image-47068\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/belvedereold.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/belvedereold-300x231.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Late 19th-century photo of Upper Belvedere. Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eugene fought a lot of battles, won most of them, and made sure we never forget the fact by decorating both of his homes with constant reminders of his achievements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Put it this way: nobody called him Eugene the Modest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Various locations within Upper Belvedere, for example, feature pictures of these battles, along with triumphalist wall decorations and ceiling paintings of the prince being honored by grateful figures from mythology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While many parts of both palaces now consist of modern-style gallery rooms to host the priceless art on display, other parts retain much of their historical grandeur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can imagine Eugene discussing each room with his prospective interior decorator in the early 1700s:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;Your suggestion for the north wall?&#8221;<br>&#8220;Perhaps a battle scene, my prince. It keeps the servants on their toes.&#8221;<br>&#8220;Can we put one on the ceiling, too? My image should be surrounded by angels. And Gods. And laurel wreaths. Especially laurel wreaths.&#8221;<br>&#8220;Um&#8230;&#8221;<br>&#8220;You think it too much?&#8221; [Eugene moves hand to sword hilt]<br>&#8220;Not at all, my prince. Perhaps we might add some enemy soldiers in chains, too?&#8221;<br>&#8220;You&#8217;re hired.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/engerth.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of Eduard Ritter von Engerth\" class=\"wp-image-32420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/engerth.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/engerth-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Eduard Ritter von Engerth (1818 &#8211; 1897), painter, museal civil servant, director of the k.k. Gem\u00e4ldegalerie in Belvedere, around 1897, photographed by Josef L\u00f6wy; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 133392, excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like many 18th-century buildings in Vienna, Belvedere went on to have an eventful history. It eventually migrated into what is now a state-run cultural institution, federal museum, and guardian of extensive treasures from across art history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A small ground-floor exhibition at Upper Belvedere traces that journey from a sparkle in Prince Eugene&#8217;s eyes to today&#8217;s world-class museum and art collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the time of writing, this exhibition is limited to a long wall chart. You find it just beyond the museum shop, immediately to your left once through the ticket check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next on your trip around Upper Belvedere: the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/belvedere-sites\/medieval-masterpieces\/\">The Middle Ages to Renaissance Collection<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most people visit Belvedere for the art and architecture. But if you&#8217;re wondering how both came to be&#8230; Belvedere&#8217;s origins (Copper engraving of Upper Belvedere in a 1737 publication; drawn by Salomon Kleiner, engraved by Johann August Corvinus and published by Johann Andreas d. \u00c4. Pfeffel; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 105765\/129, excerpt reproduced with permission under [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13475,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13473","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-belvedere-sites","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13473"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86405,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13473\/revisions\/86405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}