Displaying items by tag: palaces

The earthquake that struck the Kathmandu Valley on Saturday, April 25, which the Nepalese government estimates has killed more than 3,000 people and left twice that number injured, has severely damaged monuments, temples and historic squares in the capital, Kathmandu, and the cities of Patan (or Lalitpur) and Bhaktapur.

Unesco’s representative in Nepal, Christian Manhart, told AFP, that Kathmandu’s Durbar Square, part of a complex of historic buildings and palaces built between the 12th and 19th centuries, was among the worst affected sites.

Géza von Habsburg, an art historian in suburban New York, would have inherited part of an Austrian empire if only his ancestors had not made some terrible life choices. He did inherit the title of archduke and an interest in the history of luxury goods — the kind his family commissioned for centuries. Recently, he watched as about 100 of his family’s former heirlooms were installed at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts here for a new exhibition, “The Habsburgs: Rarely Seen Masterpieces from Europe’s Greatest Dynasty,” that runs through May.

It is the most comprehensive display yet staged for the collections from these Holy Roman Emperors, who owned palaces from Ukraine to Mexico. Gowns, rifles, suits of armor, sorbet cups, gilded knickknacks and artworks by luminaries like Rubens, Titian, Velazquez, Tintoretto and Holbein have come from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

The Prado Museum has devoted an exhibition to showcase the results of the time the painter Francisco de Goya dedicated to working on tapestries.

The Royal Tapestry Factory’s commission to Francisco de Goya to paint tapestry cartoons in 1775 brought the artist to Madrid where he eventually spent two decades of his life. “Goya in Madrid” analyzes the Spaniard’s works and the sources that inspired him.

A total of 142 pieces, which were the models to create the tapestries to decorate El Escorial and El Pardo palaces, were made by the artist during the period he spent at the Spanish royal court. The cartoons have belonged to the Prado Museum since 1870, when they arrived from the Royal Palace.