Bratislava City Gallery – Mirbach Palace
The last owner, Count Emil Mirbach, bequeathed the palace to the city with the wish to establish the Bratislava City Gallery in its premises. Mirbach Palace is one of the best-preserved buildings in the original architecture of old Prešpork. It is a rococo jewel built on the site of an old building, which is mentioned as early as 1459
The Mirbach Palace captivates visitors from the very first entrance with its courtyard, which is dominated by an impressive fountain by Viktor Tilgner. The palace is a place where the history of the place, current research and current topics in the art world meet. On its two floors, permanent exhibitions and temporary exhibitions can be discovered all year round.
In the representative premises, there is also an Atelier, which offers spaces for the organization of various occasions, and is also used as a self-service educational space. After visiting the exhibition, the visitor has the opportunity to have refreshments on the ground floor in the Emil cafe.
The courtyard of the palace and the self-service Atelier can also be visited individually, free of charge. The reception at the entrance offers interested parties a current offer of book and magazine publications with a focus on current art events.
Central European Baroque painting and sculpture
The core of the exhibition is made up of the highest quality collection items in the form of works by artists who significantly shaped the development of Baroque art not only in our country, but also in a specific context throughout Central Europe. Apart from the royal families and the aristocracy, the most important patrons of art included the Catholic Church, which made significant use of the artistic means of the Baroque and its strategies to arouse emotions as part of its counter-reformation program. Therefore, the exhibition contains many works that originally decorated local churches and monasteries.
Graphics cabinets
Graphic cabinets make up the interior decoration of two rooms on the first floor of the Mirbach Palace, probably ordered by one of the original owners of the building. They are exceptional not only for their rococo stucco-decorated ceilings, but also for their wooden paneling, into which 290 graphic sheets, engravings, etchings and mezzotints from the second half of the 17th and 18th centuries are inserted, which were colored secondary by unknown authors.
We recommend also Bratislava City Gallery – Pálffy Palace.
Our tip:
In 2024, every first Wednesday of the month, there will be free admission to exhibitions in both GMB palaces for all visitors. GMB is open on this day from 13.00 to 20.00.
