Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
Hungary's collection of international art, in a 1906 building on Heroes' Square with the Romanesque Hall.
The Museum of Fine Arts holds Hungary's collection of art from outside the country, from Egyptian and classical antiquities to European painting and sculpture. It grew from the Esterházy collection bought by the state in 1870 and from the earlier National Picture Gallery. Albert Schickedanz and Fülöp Herzog designed the building, which opened in December 1906 on the north side of Heroes' Square; its Corinthian portico and pedimental sculpture answer the Kunsthalle opposite. The site forms part of the Andrássy Avenue World Heritage listing.
Galleries cover Egyptian art, Greek and Roman antiquities, old master paintings including Raphael, Bruegel, Goya and El Greco, and sculpture and prints. The Spanish holdings are among the largest outside Spain. A three-year reconstruction completed in 2018 reopened the Romanesque Hall, a vaulted space of plaster casts whose painted decoration had been damaged in the Second World War, and restored the Renaissance Hall. The building also houses a temporary exhibition suite, a Prints and Drawings hall, a shop and a café.
Highlights
- Restored Romanesque Hall with its painted vaults and plaster casts
- Old master paintings by Raphael, Bruegel, El Greco and Goya
- One of the largest Spanish painting collections outside Spain
- Egyptian and classical antiquities in the lower galleries
