Romanesque Hall Reopens in Budapest Museum

After being closed for almost three months due to damage by the pouring rain, the Romanesque Hall of the Museum of Fine Arts can be visited again from this weekend.

The hall had to be closed in mid-June, as the museum was soaked due to the extreme rain that was pouring in at the time, causing minor damage to the wall surface of the hall. The restoration of the hall and the expansion of the building's rainwater drainage system were carried out by the company, which had previously renovated the museum, as part of warranty work.

The hall evoking the interior of a Romanesque basilica is articulated with monumental columns and pillars. The Romanesque interior design of the hall was probably the work of the building’s architects, Albert Schickedanz and Fülöp Herzog. The remarkably rich decorations were painted by Károly Miksa Reissmann and János Glaser.

The murals, conceived in the spirit of Christian iconography but also linked to a millennial theme, include depictions of the great figures of Hungarian history. The walls of the main nave are decorated with the coats of arms of the Hungarian state, partner states and provinces. The hall’s compellingly rich ornamentation also contains symbolic depictions, tree of life motifs and peasants symbolizing immortality, while the triumphal arches are adorned with zodiac signs. The griffon and dragon figures on the ceiling of the ambulatory bear the influence of German medieval mural and panel painting. The interior with an overall sacred character represents the pinnacle of decorative painting at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.