The National Art Museum of Romania

The Art Museum of Romania has three satellite museums: The Art Collection Museum, the Zambaccian Museum, and the Theodor Pallady Museum

Daniel Onea, 30.04.2020, 14:00

The Art Museum of Romania has three satellite museums: The Art Collection Museum, the Zambaccian Museum, and the Theodor Pallady Museum. All these are now awaiting visitors on-line, with complex virtual tours. Our guide today is Georgiana Iacob with the The Art Museum of Romania, the Education, Communication, and Cultural Project section. We will be entering a universe of Romanian and old European creation, but also contemporary.

Until museums open their gates again, you are invited to discover art from home, through virtual tours, with interpretations and audio descriptions of selected works. The message of the organizers of these virtual tours is that the present period is very good to get to know and to enjoy the valuable heritage of humanity. Georgiana Iacob told us to start our visit right at the central headquarters of the biggest art museum in Romania:

“We are talking about the royal palace, a palace with a very rich history, starting in the 19th century. It started off as an impressive house for its time, the Dinicu Golescu House. Once Romania gained its independence, under King Carol I, it was turned into a prestigious palace. The central part of the palace, unfortunately, was consumed by fire in December 1926. Therefore the palace was restored during King Carol II, in the 30, almost in the form that we see it again. Towards the end of WWII, the palace was severely damaged by bombings. As luck had it, the same architect, Nicolae Nenciulescu, seconded by engineer Emil Prager, was in charge of restoration right after the war, and of turning it into an art museum. The Royal Palace, the moment it ceases being what it was initially meant to be, turned into Romanias largest art museum. It housed mainly the Romanian art collection that covers the period between the 14th century and mid-20th century. They also set up there, obviously, the European Art Gallery, built upon the collection put together and donated to the state by King Carol I.”

The European Art Gallery showcases the most important art schools, starting from the 16th century, with works by famous artists like Tintoretto, Cranach the Elder, Breughel the Younger, El Greco, Rembrandt, or Rubens. Here is Georgiana Iacob with the The Art Museum of Romania:

“The exhibition is organized by schools, as it was designed initially. We start with the Italian school, then the German, Spanish, Flemish, and so on, reaching at the end the French school. You can also admire works from the 19th century, the Impressionist period. I would mention artists such as Claude Monet and Auguste Rodin. This virtual tour, during this period, can be completed by the catalog of the museum. In the catalog, the schools are presented in detail. The illustrations are high quality, and it highlights the most important art works.”

At the same time, the Romanian Art Gallery is made up of two galleries, Georgiana Iacob continued:

“We have the Medieval art gallery, with exhibits from the 16th century. It is complemented chronologically and naturally by the Modern Romanian Art Gallery. These galleries can be visited virtually, but people who want to find out more about them can also access a tour of the masterpieces on the museum website, where they can get information about the most important works, and listen to dramatizations. Also, the English language version of the website presents important information about the works in all three galleries for people who dont know Romanian.”

One of the thematic tours that the National Art Museum proposes these days is that in which the visitor can admire images of pets. These are available as a collection until May 31.

Georgiana Iacob with the The Art Museum of Romania, the Education, Communication, and Cultural Project section proposed another virtual tour, with Romanian art both modern and old:

“The old Romanian art gallery has a great variety of objects, especially religious. Then you can admire embroideries, frescoes, among them the famous Curtea de Arges ensemble, but also impressive pieces, such as the Cotroceni Monastery iconostasis. The modern Romanian art gallery starts with works by Theodor Aman, one of the first major Romanian artists. We can also mention Nicolae Grigorescu, Romanias national painter. You can see the way in which his art transformed along the years, and the works that made him famous.”

Another interesting virtual tour proposed by the National Art Museum of Romania is called Measures against the spread of the COVID-19 infection. Under the message Dont go out of the house unless you go to work, buy food, you have a medical emergency, or another situation that cannot be postponed you can see Nicolae Darascus painting Victoriei Road in the Rain. Another message is Try to buy sufficient food so you dont have to go out every day for supplies. The illustration for the message is the painting Flemish Interior by David Teniers the Younger. Also, the message of social distancing is illustrated by the painting Noli me tangere by Bartholomaus Spranger.

We will be back next week with more virtual tours in the world of art, when we will visit the satellite museums of the Romanian National Art Museum.