After a gap of almost 80 years, the three most impressive halls of the Museum of Fine Arts can all now be visited. Just reopened after a long renovation, filled with 40 sculptures and 30 paintings, the Baroque Hall completes the picture after the previous unveiling of the Renaissance and Roman Halls in recent years.
Each of the main halls of the impressively renovated Museum of Fine Arts on Heroes’ Square has experienced different fates. Severely damaged during the Siege of Budapest towards the end of World War II, the Roman Hall was closed to the public and later used as a warehouse. It reopened to visitors in 2018.
The Baroque Hall first opened in 1906. According to the original plans, not only its design echoed the 17th-18th centuries but plaster copies of famous sculptures of the era would also have been included. However, the hall initially functioned not as an exhibition space but as a warehouse for plaster copies and modern sculpture.
After the war, a sculpture exhibition was held in the central part, and the corridor behind the pillars was used as a warehouse. After a small-scale reconstruction in 1987, it was furnished with original Baroque paintings and sculptures. In 2015, it was renovated once more as part of the comprehensive museum reconstruction.
Now visitors can admire some 40 sculptures and reliefs related to the architectural style of their surroundings, including small Italian bronzes and carvings in marble and wood by Venetian masters. Nearly 30 paintings have been selected from Italian, Spanish and German collections.
