Vienna Museum of Fine Arts: Art Historian Private Tour of Must-see Masterpieces

5.0 (one review) 3 hours Free cancellation Private tour

out of 5

one review

5.0

Vienna Museum of Fine Arts: Art Historian Private Tour of Must-see Masterpieces — Photos: the activity supplier, via Viator

Vienna Museum of Fine Arts: Art Historian Private Tour of Must-see Masterpieces, photo 2 — Photos: the activity supplier, via Viator

About this activity

Dozens of the rooms of the sumptuous Vienna Art History Museum are filled with thousands of artworks, each is unique and interesting. But how can someone decide which objects are more important and why?

This Critical Art Tour is created for those who want to know what exactly makes renown masterpieces so special. Is it their outstanding craftsmanship and expression of artistic genius? Or possibly a coincidence and good marketing?

In this tour, we'll explore celebrated masterworks from different perspectives to find out why these are on the museum’s must-see list – and then how this list could look different.

You will learn:

What made ‘Saliera’ by Benvenuto Cellini into an Austrian ‘Mona Lisa’ – was it artistic skills or its criminal past?
Why do we believe Pieter Breugel’s ‘Tower of Babel’ to be truthful despite our knowledge about it being architecturally incorrect?
What a Reserve Head and a Hippo from Ancient Egypt tell us about our ability to understand its culture?

Half-day Tours Private and Luxury Private Sightseeing Tours Architecture Tours Cultural Tours Art Tours Walking Tours Weather Dependent - Low

At a glance

Duration: 3 hours
Confirmation: Instant confirmation
Ticket: Mobile or paper ticket accepted
Group: Your group only
People per booking: 1–4
Guide: German, English
Operated by: Art with me! — Art experience for the intellectually curious

What is included

Included

Included: Professional Art Historian guide

Not included

Not included: Museum admission tickets

Itinerary

Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna

2 h 59 min Admission not included

The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna is best described as a 'temple of art'. Even its architecture, designed in the best traditions of historicism, combines the details of temples from the three principal Western cultures. Here you will find all the gods and heroes of the Western European art Olympus: Arcimboldo, Brueghel, Velasquez, Holbein, Dürer, Giorgione, Cranach, Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens, Titian.

Like any Western museum that claims to be universal, the Kunsthistorisches Museum also has collections of Egyptian, Greek and Roman art. A big part of the museum is devoted to the unique cabinets of curiosities.

The museum's curators have drawn up an informative list for visitors, including 700 masterpieces for local art lovers, 100 for regular visitors and 35 "must-sees" for first-time visitors. On this art tour, we follow the curators' shortlist and take a close look at world-renowned masterpieces from a different perspective to understand what makes each work of art so special.
Maria Theresien Square

1 min

The place to meet for your museum tour

Meeting point and pickup

Everyone meets at the meeting point.

Meeting point

The meeting point in front of the museum main entrance. There are three doors and the central one is closed. You guide will be waiting for you in front of it. The exact information with photos of the meeting point and your museum guide you will get with an extra file. Use the contact details on your confirmation/voucher if you have any question or have any difficulties to find the meeting point or your guide.

End point

The meeting point in front of the museum main entrance. There are three doors and the central one is closed. You guide will be waiting for you in front of it. The exact information with photos of the meeting point and your museum guide you will get with an extra file. Use the contact details on your confirmation/voucher if you have any question or have any difficulties to find the meeting point or your guide.

Using your ticket

PLEASE NOTE: This is your ticket for the tour but it does not entitle you to free entry to the museum. You have chosen a tour without museum tickets. Please buy these in advance online or at the ticket office. If you cannot buy them in advance, your guide will buy them for you when you meet her.