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QSL 2 - FEBRUARY 2007

(2007-04-27)

Last updated: 2007-06-11 17:11 EET

THE BRUKENTHAL MUSEUM IN SIBIU

Erected in the late 18th century in baroque style, the building which now hosts the Art Gallery of the Brukenthal National Museum used to be the residence of Baron Samuel von Brukenthal (1721-1803), a counsellor of Empress Maria Theresa and governor of Transylvania between 1777 and 1787. A historical Romanian principality, Transylvania was part of the Hapsburg Empire. The museum which bears the name of Baron von Brukenthal was inaugurated in 1817 and initially housed some 1,200 paintings from the baron’s private collection. An art aficionado, Samuel von Brukenthal managed to bring together works belonging to the main European painting schools in the 15th-18th centuries: Flemish, German, Austrian, Italian, Spanish and French. Rubens, Van Dyck, Botticelli, Durer, Meytens and Titian are some of the painters whose works have been exhibited in the European painting collection of the Brukenthal Museum. The museum’s stamp collection includes some 1,000 exhibits belonging to the German, Austrian, Flemish, Dutch, Italian, French, English and Swiss schools. The Transylvanian graphic collection, which includes over 3,000 drawings and engravings, is an important documentary source for the events that occurred in Transylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries. Baron Samuel von Brukenthal also boasted a valuable library, with an initial collection of some 16 thousand volumes. The library can similarly be found at the Palace. At present, its includes some 300 thousand manuscripts, incunabula, books and magazines. The baron used to organize chamber music concerts in the palace every week.

In his will, Baron Sameul von Brukenthal donated the Palace which bears his name to the Evangelical Church in Sibiu. After WW II and the instatement of the communist regime in Romania, the Brukenthal Palace became state-property. Last year, the National Authority for the Restitution of Properties returned to the Evangelical Church, the building which is featured on the RRI QSL for February. Above the entrance, one can see the Baron’s golden coat of arms.

(Text by Stefan Baciu, photo by Eugen Cojocariu)

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