Museum of Fine Arts

In a place created for the 1896 celebration of 1000 years of Hungary called Hősök Tere (Heroes' Square), stand the Museum of Fine Arts. It is an imposing building filled with some nice antiquities and art from Hungary and around the world.

As you will see below, one of the most interesting things to see in the museum is the museum itself.



As usual, I am drawn to the antiquities and I was not disappointed. The pieces here are small, but some are really quite nice.

The Roman statuary was mostly minor pieces, but they were very well done.

The Egyptian room also have some very nice pieces. What I found especially nice was that there were no crowds such as one finds in the British Museum. You can really take your time and enjoy the collection without getting run over.

Not sure what this one says. For all I know it could be a cartoon telling a joke. Somehow, I doubt it though.

On my way up from the basement to see some of the European and Hungarian treasures, I was distracted by the building itself.

In the hall shown below, there is a huge touch screen with images of the collected objects available to explore. It also happens to be in this very large delightful room.

Even the modest stairs in the back of the building are painted beautifully.

The classical hall from upstairs shows the symmetry and the floor design to good effect. The gold and green and brown colors make this a restful place to be. The classical styling made it feel as if you were standing on a Roman portico having a chat in your toga.

But the real star of our visit is the recently opened Roman Hall. This place was severely damaged in WWII. It was reopened in 2018 for the first time since 1945. A bomb landed on the museum and not only destroyed much of the place but shattered the windows in the Roman Hall and left it exposed to the elements. This extensive restoration of this hall originally built in 1900 to house medieval plaster casts has given the museum a real gem.

It is large and beautifully painted. The lighting and Romanesque arches really add to the serenity of the place.

The ceiling design are wonderful.

The statues that line the doorway really add to the effect that you in a special place.