Glyptothek

Klenze's first Munich work

Commissioned by the then Crown Prince Ludwig, Leo von Klenze built the Glyptothek in 1816–1830 on what would become Königsplatz — a museum especially for Ludwig's extraordinary collection of Greek and Roman sculpture. It was the first public sculpture museum anywhere in the world. Style: strictly classicist, white marble, Doric temple front, interiors with thirteen halls around a large courtyard. Construction: the young stonemason foreman Franz Höllriegel.

What you can see here

The main attractions are the Aegina sculptures — the pediment figures of the Aphaia Temple on the island of Aegina (5th c. BCE), which Ludwig bought in a glittering auction against the British in 1812. Alongside, the Barberini Faun (3rd c. BCE), the Boy with Goose, Roman portrait busts and the Munich Kouros. Severely damaged in the war, the interior was deliberately not reconstructed in historicising style; the sculptures now stand against plain exposed-brick walls — a staging that lets the work speak.