Media Release – 13.03.2014
Vienna based Albertina museum receives two busts by the artist Guiseppe Pisani on loan from LIVIA Art Investment
For the exhibition “the origins of Albertina – from Dürer to Napoleon”, which takes place in the Albertina museum in Vienna from March 13 until June 29, 2014, Prof Dr Dr Löw contributes two marble busts from the renowned Italian sculptor Giuseppe Pisani (1757 – 1839).
The two impressive art works (Emperor Franz I., 1797, height 70 cm, marble and Emperor Joseph II., 1800, height 70 cm, marble) are a historical remainder of the beginnings of the Albertina museum when its eponym and collection founder Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen (1738 – 1822) received the palace as a gift from Emperor Franz II (1768 – 1811) in 1794.
Pisani studied at the famous Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in Florence and was mainly active in Rome. In 1798, he relocated to Vienna and entered the service of the house of Este where he was later appointed sculptor to the royal court by Archduke Franz. In 1821, he became director of the academia in Modena where he passed away in 1839. Pisani is known for a number of tombs in the cathedral at Modena and the churches of Krems and Gran that he carved.
One of the world’s finest art collections has been housed since 1805 in the Albertina, a grand Viennese palace in the neoclassical style. The palace takes its name from the collection’s founder, Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen (1738-1822), a son-in-law of Austrian Empress Maria Theresa (1717-80). It was built in 1744 for Count Emanuel Teles Silva-Tarouca (1696-1771).
The palace underwent complete renovation in 2000-2003. The facades were returned to their original appearance, the historical state apartments were fully restored, and the Danubius Fountain was reactivated. Four state-of-the-art exhibition rooms were created. Architect Hans Hollein canopied the entrance to the museum with a spectacular 64-metre titanium wing-shaped roof. Installed in 2004, the daring structure has become the hallmark of the new Albertina.
