The building of the Museum of Fine Arts, which opened in 1906, has already undergone several partial reconstructions; during the last one in 2008, its façade was renovated – however, the renewal of the so-called Romanesque wing and the development of the building-services engineering were badly needed for decades. The museum’s richly decorated Romanesque Hall, designed after a Romanesque church interior and standing at the focus of the reconstruction, has been closed to the public for 70 years. Besides the paintings of the Old Masters’ Gallery, the museum’s plaster casts were also kept in this almost 900-square-meter hall, now used as storage space. The reconstruction will provide a solution to the decades-long question of the plaster casts – simultaneously with the renovation works, many of them will be displayed at the Csillagerőd (Star Fortress) of Komárom, and at the National Museum Restoration and Storage Center, with the latter to be built on Szabolcs Street.
Soon the Romanesque Hall will regain its original splendor; a new heating and air conditioning system will be implemented, alongside the reconstruction of monuments. Moreover, its two entrances – one decorated by the plaster cast of the golden gate of Freiburg Cathedral, and the other modeled after the gate of Gyulafehérvár Cathedral – will be reopened to visitors. The renewed hall will be introduced to the public before the reopening of the museum in the spring of 2018.
The comprehensive reconstruction plans of the museum were designed by architect István Mányi (Mányi Studio), and will be carried out on almost 40% of the museum’s total floor area – including the Michelangelo Hall, designed in Renaissance style, which has been used as an office. A new restaurant and café will also be operating inside the museum. The heating system and boilers from the 1970s will be replaced, along with the old, noisy air-conditioning units; new electric networks will be built; the security and IT systems will be modernized; a new goods lift will be installed; and ‘expedition corridors’ satisfying the requirements of modern artifact transportation will be constructed.
The building of the museum will remain closed during the entire reconstruction period, but the most important works of the collection will be displayed in the Buda Castle and in the Hungarian National Gallery. After its reopening, the Museum of Fine Arts will display its collection arranged according to a new concept, and visitors will be able to see a new permanent exhibition. The reconstruction works will be finished by the end of the year, and in March of 2018, the museum will reopen to the public.
