The view from the second floor of the Upper Belvedere towards the city center is much nicer in summer when nature is in full bloom...
This visitor of the Upper Belvedere didn't look like a typical art lover, but he admired the painting of "Napoleon at the Great St. Bernhard Pass" (1801) by Jacques-Louis David for quite a while...
The grand staircase leads to the Marble Hall, the Upper Belvedere's most magnificient room. The hall occupies two storeys and once served as an antechamber. On 15 May 1955 the Austrian State Treaty, that re-established a free, sovereign and democratic Austria after the end of World War II, was signed here by the Allied occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union) and Austrian foreign minister Leopold Figl.
That's what you see when you stand in front of the Upper Belvedere and look towards the city center. I love the expression of the sphinx's face...
We had another dreary weekend... As it was also rather cold, my Sunday afternoon walk ended at the Upper Belvedere. The palace was built as summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy who used it primarily for purposes of prestige and display. In the second half of the 1770s the "Imperial Picture Gallery" was transferred from the Imperial Palace to the Upper Belvedere. Today the palace houses the permanent collection of the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere.
The former residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736) is one of my favourite buildings in Vienna - especially in spring with fresh flowers around the pond. For more photos please click here, here, here, here and here).
The Upper Belvedere is one of the three locations of the exhibition "Ai Weiwei. translocation - transformation" (on show until November 20). In the staircase of the palace the artist has released three creatures into the air to roam. The delicate sculptures were made by hand in the style of traditional Chinese kites. Thin bamboo bars form the frame and are covered with silk. The figures are a representation of the many mythical creatures from the Shanhaijing ("The Classic of Mountains and Seas"), the oldest recorded collection of Chinese mythology. I fell in love with the dragon "Lu 鯥, 2015".
The Marble Hall is the Upper Belvedere’s most magnificent room. The hall occupies two storeys and once served as an antechamber. The ceiling fresco was painted in 1721 by Carlo Innocenzo Carlone. The hall came to be widely known, as it was here that the Austrian State Treaty, that re-established a free, sovereign and democratic Austria after the end of World War II, was signed on 15 May 1955 by the Allied occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union) and Austrian foreign minister Leopold Figl.
I should have started the week with this photo, because if you take the main entrance to the Upper Belvedere (as I did on Sunday) you have to pass through this majestic wrought iron gate.
If I remember correctly, this snowman sculpture by Austrian artist Manfred Erjautz in front of the Upper Belvedere should have been removed at the end of March. Well, on Sunday it was still there and a very popular photo subject for the tourists. Please click here for a photo taken in January.
The Österreichische Galerie Belvedere is currently preparing an exhibition of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei at the Upper Belvedere. The exhibition will stretch out into the baroque gardens, where the "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads" - an ensemble of bronze heads from the Chinese zodiac - has already been set up.
If you stand in front of the Upper Belvedere you can enjoy this beautiful view. Unfortunately last Sunday the weather was rather dreary...
A side view of the Upper Belvedere last Sunday. By now the snow has completely gone and the temperature is rather springlike.
On Saturday evening the city was beautifully covered with snow. During the night the temperature increased and the snow turned into slush... Maybe you are now wondering why this snowman still looks so perfect. Well, because he's made of marble and a sculpture by Austrian artist Manfred Erjautz. The website of the Belvedere, in front of which he is located, says that he "symbolizes not only a particular season but also memories and the complexities of transience. The snowman is deprived of its ephemeral existence through the creative process, ultimately leading to it becoming trapped in the present."
With his art installation "The Perfect Tourist", Hubertus von Hohenlohe invites both Viennese citizens and tourists to capture the magic of the Upper Belvedere in a perfect photograph. The installation offers visitors to the Belvedere Gardens an opportunity to immortalise themselves in the Baroque ambience of the Lower and the Upper Belvedere with the aid of a specially designed mirror. Usually there is a line of tourists who want to take a picture in front of this mirror...
