Upper Belvedere

The Upper Belvedere is a Baroque palace in Vienna, Austria, that serves as the principal museum building of the Belvedere complex and one of the country's foremost art institutions. Completed in 1723 as the summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy, it now houses the permanent collection of the Belvedere museum, presenting Austrian art from the Middle Ages to the present day within an international context. Located in Vienna's third district at Prinz Eugen-Straße 27, the palace is globally致 globally renowned for possessing the world's largest collection of paintings by Gustav Klimt, including his iconic "The Kiss," and for its role in anchoring the Historic Centre of Vienna UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Upper Belvedere arose from Prince Eugene of Savoy's acquisition of land south of the Rennweg in 1697, with additional plots purchased in 1708, 1716, and 1717-18 to allow staged expansion of the garden complex. The prince selected Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt as chief architect, having previously employed him for Ráckeve Palace in 1702. Construction of the Upper Belvedere began in the late 1710s and was completed in 1723, conceived less as a private residence than as a representative building for ceremonies, receptions, and display. Prince Eugene received the Turkish ambassador Ibrahim Pasha there in 1719 while interior decoration was still underway. The Italian painter Francesco Solimena executed the altarpiece for the Palace Chapel and the ceiling painting in the Gold Cabinet in 1719; Gaetano Fanti produced illusionistic quadratura in the Marble Hall the same year; and Carlo Innocenzo Carlone painted the Marble Hall ceiling fresco between 1721 and 1723. Structural problems in the Sala Terrena led Hildebrandt to install a vaulted ceiling supported by four Atlas pillars in 1732-33, giving the room its present appearance. Prince Eugene died in 1736 without a legally binding will, and his niece Princess Maria Anna Victoria of Savoy inherited the complex. In 1752, Maria Theresa acquired the Belvedere. The engineer Salomon Kleiner documented the ensemble in a ten-part publication with ninety plates between 1731 and 1740. The Upper Belvedere later gained modern historical significance when the Austrian State Treaty was signed in the Marble Hall in 1955, establishing Austria's independence after post-World War II occupation.

The permanent exhibition at the Upper Belvedere places Austrian art into dialogue with international artists across eight centuries, from medieval religious works through Viennese Modernism to contemporary art. The collection is strategically focused rather than encyclopedic, with particular depth in three key periods: the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, the Baroque era, and Vienna around 1900. The medieval holdings include gothic and romanesque religious works, with highlights such as the 1440s Znaim altarpiece, panels by the Master of the Schottenaltar from around 1470, works by Michael Pacher and Marx Reichlich, and Lucas Cranach the Elder's "The Odd Couple" from 1530/1540. The Baroque, Neoclassical, and Biedermeier sections feature portraits, landscapes, and the celebrated "Character Heads" by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt. The crown jewel remains the Vienna 1900 collection, where works by Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, and Oskar Kokoschka are presented in thematic dialogue with international figures including Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and Auguste Rodin, extending through Friedensreich Hundertwasser and interwar artists such as László Moholy-Nagy, Marie-Louise von Motesiczky, and František Kupka. Contemporary art is introduced through the Carlone Contemporary series in six-monthly shows and the IN-SIGHT series of three annual temporary exhibitions highlighting new scholarly research on the collection.

The Upper Belvedere's most celebrated work is Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss" (Lovers), a masterpiece of the Vienna Secession that draws millions of visitors annually. The museum holds the world's largest collection of Klimt paintings, though his "Judith" was temporarily absent at the time of source documentation, having been lent to an exhibition collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum titled "Klimt. Inspired by van Gogh, Rodin, Matisse." Egon Schiele is represented by multiple works including "Portrait of the Artist's Wife, Edith Schiele," "Death and Maiden," "Façade of a House," "Portrait of Dr. Hugo Koller," "Embrace," "Mother with Two Children III," "Portrait of Eduard Kosmack," and "City on the Blue River II," eight of which have been enhanced with an augmented reality program revealing x-ray, infrared, and macro imagery developed by the Belvedere restoration department. The Messerschmidt "Character Heads" constitute another signature holding. International masterpieces include works by Vincent van Gogh and Auguste Rodin, while the medieval collection features the Znaim altarpiece and panels by the Master of the Schottenaltar.

The Upper Belvedere is a masterpiece of Baroque architecture designed by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, set amid formal gardens on a gentle slope southeast of Vienna's historic centre. The building presents a grand architectural impression from both its garden approach and its front overlooking an ornamental lake. Visitors enter via the Sala Terrena, a large white lobby with decorated stucco ceiling, sculpted pillars, and supporting arches installed by Hildebrandt in 1732-33. This leads to the Grand Staircase, a wide stone staircase with stucco martial reliefs and giant iron-wrought lamps that originally greeted arriving carriages. The Marble Hall represents perhaps the palace's most dramatic interior space, with illusionist paintings by Gaetano Fanti and Carlo Innocenzo Carlone adding false galleries and niches to the décor; its windows offer views down to the Lower Belvedere and across the main gardens. The hall served as the site of the 1955 Austrian State Treaty signing. The palace also contains a small chapel with Francesco Solimena's altarpiece, and the Carlone Hall, the former summer drawing room with illusionist wall and ceiling paintings around the figures of Aurora and Apollo. The Belvedere Gardens were designed in the formal French manner by Dominique Girard, trained at Versailles, with symmetrical parterres, water basins, steps, cascades, clipped hedges, and sculptures extending over three large terraces between the Upper and Lower Belvedere. The complex, including both palaces, the Orangery, the Palace Stables, and the gardens, forms part of the Baroque heritage of the Historic Centre of Vienna UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Upper Belvedere is located at Prinz Eugen-Straße 27, 1030 Vienna, and is open daily from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. The museum uses a time slot system for entry, and advance booking is recommended as same-day purchases can involve waiting for the next available slot. The entrance is on the north side facing the main gardens and Lower Belvedere. Public transport access includes tram D to station "Schloss Belvedere," train and S-Bahn or tram 18, O to station "Quartier Belvedere," and underground U1 to "Südtiroler Platz / Hauptbahnhof" followed by approximately 15 minutes' walk. Bike parking is available in the palace gardens at entrances on Prinz-Eugen-Straße and Landstraßer Gürtel. Discounted parking for six hours is offered at the BIP Garage at Palais Schwarzenberg and the BIP Garage Schwarzenbergplatz, though this discount does not apply when using the parking app. The museum provides a charging station for electric cars, a city bike station, and bicycle racks. Visitor amenities include a shop, café, the Smartify app for exploring the exhibition, and an audio tour available through in-app purchase. The Belvedere complex is owned and operated as a public museum institution, with the Upper Belvedere serving as the main permanent collection venue while the Lower Belvedere hosts special exhibitions and Belvedere 21 is devoted to contemporary Austrian and international art, film, and music.