Sculpture Gallery, Munich Glyptothek

The Glyptothek (from the Greek "glyptik" meaning sculpture, or the art of cutting stone), the oldest museum in Munich, was built between 1816 and 1830 by Leo von Klenze (1784-1864). It houses one of the foremost collections of sculpture in Europe, largely assembled in the early 19th C. by King Ludwig I, a great lover of ancient art. His agents brought back from Egypt, Greece and Italy numerous works of Greek and Roman sculpture, including the fine figures from the pediment of the Temple of Aphaia (ca.

Sculpture Gallery Map

Important Information:

Official site: www.antike-am-koenigsplatz.mwn.de

Address: King's 3, D-80333 München, Germany

Opening hours: 10am-5pm; Thu: 10am-8pm; Closed: Mon

Entrance fee in EUR: Adult €3.50, Concession or reduced rate €2.50

Facilities: Restaurant or food service

Transit: U-Bahn: U2 (Konigsplatz); Tram: 18.

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500 B.C.) on the island of Aegina near Athens, excavated in 1811.

Leo von Klenze was commissioned by Ludwig to build a new gallery to accommodate the figures. The result, using plans prepared by Karl von Fischer (1782-1820), was the Glyptothek, one the finest and most celebrated Neo-Classical buildings in Germany. Laid out round a central courtyard, it is fronted by an Ionic portico. The rooms are lit from the courtyard, the exterior walls being windowless, their bareness relieved by eighteen statues in niches. The Glyptothek itself was destroyed by bombing in 1943-44, the interior frescoes by Peter von Cornelius also being lost. But its valuable contents had been removed to places of safety and survived the war undamaged.

After an extended period of rebuilding (rooms remodelled by Josef Wiedemann) the Glyptothek reopened in 1972.

Sculpture Gallery Highlight

Outstanding Exhibits

Among numerous outstanding exhibits from the period 500 B.C. to A.D. 250 are:

Room I

Sculpture of Homer (antique copy); Early Greek statue of a youth; dedicatory reliefs.

Room II

"Barberinian Faun" (large statue of a satyr), named after the Palazzo Barbarini in Rome where it was found; head of the "Medusa Rondanini" (antique copy).

Room III

Statue of Diomedes; head of Athene; head of a youth.

Room IV

Mnesarete tomb relief; woman's tomb, shaped like an ointment jar.

Room V

Statue of Irene (Greek Goddess of Peace); statue of an athlete (antique copy).

Room VI

Relief from a hunter's tomb; relief from a woman's tomb.

Room VII

Sculptural group from the west pediment of the Temple of Aegina, depicting the second siege of Troy by Telemon's son Ajax; coronation.

Room VIII

Sphinx from the roof of the Aeginetan temple.

Museum cafe.

Room IX

Sculptural group from the east pediment of the Temple of Aegina, depicting the first siege of Troy by Telamon and Hercules.

Room X

Statue of Alexander; head of Aphrodite (antique copy);

Sculpture of Demosthenes.

Room XI

Crowned bust of the Emperor Augustus (who ruled from 31 B.C. to A.D. 14); collection of Roman portrait busts; monumental relief of the marriage of Poseidon; mosaic pavement from a Roman villa in Sentinum.

Room XII

Colossal statue of Apollo (the "Apollo Barberini"); statue of the Emperor Domitian (ruled A.D. 81 to 96).

Room XIII

Antique copies of Greek statues; boy with goose, old drunkards, head of a satyr. - Roman sarcophagi.

Courtyard

Bronze recasting of a statue of the Emperor Hadrian (ruled A.D. 117 to 138).

Open-air cafe.

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