Glyptothek

The Glyptothek stands on Munich’s Königsplatz as the city’s oldest public museum. King Ludwig I commissioned it in the early 19th century to display his collection of Greek and Roman sculptures. Leo von Klenze designed the building in neoclassical style, with an Ionic portico and marble walls. The museum forms part of the wider Kunstareal cultural district. Its exterior features niches filled with original sculptures, while the interior courtyard opens to the sky.

The collection spans archaic Greece to late Rome, with notable works acquired by Ludwig’s agents. Famous pieces include the Medusa Rondanini and the Barberini Faun, alongside temple figures from Aegina. The Classical period is represented by a portrait of Homer and the Munich King. Roman busts of emperors such as Augustus and Nero line the galleries. After wartime damage, the building was restored with red-brick interiors and domed vaulting.

Inside, thirteen rooms surround a central vestibule topped by a gable group of Athena. The walls hold frescoes by Peter von Cornelius and others, though many were lost in the war. Visitors find the Medusa Rondanini and Alexander Rondanini in the main halls. Smaller rooms display terracottas and bronzes from the nearby State Collection. The courtyard still bears traces of the Assyrian reliefs once housed there.