Vienna

The Austrian capital belongs to the five most popular destinations in European city tourism - with good reasons. Vienna's historical architecture, concentrated on the inner city and along the Ringstrasse, has been largely preserved and skillfully restored. Even the remains of a former Roman military camp dating back to the first century after christ have been rediscovered. Some churches, monasteries and historic houses go back to the time of the Babenberg dynasty. As the capital of the Habsburg empire, Vienna saw its heyday under the resigns of Maria Theresia and Francis Joseph I, Baroque palaces, the Hofburg, Schoenburnn Castle and Belvedere palace, the manificent houses of the bourgeoisie and aristocracy give ample evidence of the splendor of these epochs.

From the turn of the century onwards life in this metropolis was determined by an immensely rich and diverse culure: Freud, Hofmannsthal, Werfel, Schnitzler, Kraus, Hoffmann, Loos, Olbrich, Wagner, Klimt, Kokoschka and Schiele are just a few renowned names from that time. As a center of musical life, Vienna had already won worldwide recognition and fame due to the works of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Strauss father and son, Lanner, the Viennese waltz, and the golden era of the operetta. Today visit the The State Opera House, or to one of Viennas traditional music halls, the Musikverin, or the Konzerthaus, belongs to the standard program of each music buff. Vienna disposes of excellent evening entertainment; the two most popular forms are the in-pubs and stand up bars of the so called Bermuda Triangle (one hip pub is next to the other) on the one hand, and the Heurigen, wine taverns at the foot-hills of the Vienna Woods which offer the famous Viennese wines, on the other hand.

When staying in Vienna, one should not forget to drop in at the Prater amusement park, and take a ride on the Giant Ferris Wheel, for cyclists and water sports enthusiasts the Danube island offers all possibilities one can imagine, for relaxing and experiencing true Austrian hospitality the Vienna Woods are the right place. Since the opening of East, Vienna has more than ever before become an important European hub. Numerous international organisations have their headquaters here, which is best expressed by the UN-center on the left bank of the Danube.

In case one just associates Vienna with the Spanish Riding School, the Viennas Boy's choir,and St. Stephen's, he will miss the wealth of museums and galeries, the numerous events in the course of the Vienna Festival, the balls like the Opera Ball, and the year round buzz in the Viennese cafes, pubs, restaurants and discos. The Viennese always find a reason to celebrate, and sometimes the whole city is involved in these activities. In addition to the above mentioned sights, there are still a lot of others. Here is a brief selection: the Imperial Treasury, the imperial Burial Vaults, the Ephesos museum, the every Saturaday morning), Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) houses, the Lainz game park, and many more.

This painting is not a tranquil interior, charged with mood. This painting is a host of symbols and icons. A curtain covers much of the canvas, indicating that this is a stage-set, and the diagonal pattern of floor tiles draws the eye into the scene. There is a chair at lower left, ready for the viewer to sit down and watch the show. The combination of the horizontal roof beams and strong horizontals from the map lend stability to the composition.

The woman has a blue dress and a yellow skirt, she has a crown of laurel, a trombone, and a book; she is interpreted as Clio, the muse of History, as described by Cesare Ripa's Iconologia, an Italian study of symbols that was translated into Dutch in 1644. The book she holds is the works of Thucydides, the Classical Greek historian. The name for this painting is therefore wrong: it is not about painting, but about history.

The chandelier hanging from the ceiling has a double-headed eagle motif at the top, symbolic of the Habsburg empire, who had recently been ejected from the newly-democratic United Netherlands. There are no candles in the chandelier, showing Vermeer's opinion of the power of the Habsburgs.

A large part of the canvas is taken up by a map of the Netherlands, produced by Nicolaes Visscher, from 1592, when the Habsburgs still occupied the Netherlands. The map is, however, divided by a prominent vertical crease into the newly liberated United Netherlands (right), and the remaining occupied Spanish part: Catholic Flanders, that will eventually become Belgium. The margins of the map have scenes of cities, and The Muse of History stands directly in front of the view of The Hague, the seat of the Dutch Court and residence of the House of Orange.

The painter, dressed in fanciful, not contemporary, clothing, works with an almost empty canvas, symbolic of the new republic of the United Netherlands. Furthermore, the easel on which he paints is directly in front of the new country.

On the table at the left, silk flows towards us, echoing the flow of light from behind the curtain. Also there is an object that looks like an oversize death-mask, which may be the face of Willem I, from the tomb of the House of Orange in the Prinsenhof in Delft.

This picture was sold to the Nazi art advisor, Hans Posse, in 1940, who was buying on behalf of Hitler. It was stored in a salt mine near Vienna for five years, and in spite of the efforts of the liberating Americans to acquire it, was eventually transferred to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna in 1946.