Martin von Wagner Museum der Universität Würzburg

Description

In the south wing of the Würzburg Residence, the Martin von Wagner Museum of the University of Würzburg houses the university’s art-historical collections and has occupied this location since 1963. The holdings span some 5,000 years of art and cultural history and provide high-quality documentation of ancient, medieval and modern works.

The connection between the collection and university teaching goes back to the late 1700s; the institutional collection was established in 1832 with the creation of an “Ästhetisches Attribut” to support art-historical and archaeological research. It has been publicly accessible since 1837. A decisive turning point came in 1857 with the substantial donation from the museum’s namesake Martin von Wagner, which included ancient sculptures, thousands of drawings and engravings chiefly of Italian provenance and shifted the focus toward Italian art. Additions from other collection areas subsequently broadened the survey of European art history; further collecting fields were added in the 19th and 20th centuries. Until 2014 the collections were overseen by the professorial chairs of the respective departments; since then the museum has operated as an independent organizational unit.

The collection is divided into an Antiquities Collection, a Newer Department with a painting gallery, and an extensive Graphic Collection. The Antiquities Collection comprises finds from the Mediterranean from the 3rd millennium BC to Late Antiquity; particularly noteworthy are approximately 5,000 Greek vases—one of the largest assemblies in Germany—as well as significant individual pieces such as ancient vases and reliefs. A coin cabinet was reopened in 2019 following the acquisition of numerous ancient coins. The painting gallery presents German, Dutch and Italian painting from the 13th to the 20th century and contains works by Italian, Dutch and German masters as well as sculptures, including works from the school of Tilman Riemenschneider. The Graphic Collection comprises around 16,000 drawings and 14,000 prints, with works among others by Albrecht Dürer, Federico Barocci and Giovanni Battista as well as Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo.

The ongoing work of the museum is partially supported by the Martin-von-Wagner Foundation Fund.