Raphael, Rembrandt, and Rubens. Oh my.

If I had an inhaler, I would be using it right now. Seems melodramatic, I know, but I love renaissance and baroque paintings, and the three artists listed in the title were all-stars of their times. Paintings by these artists and many more can be found at the Liechtenstein Garden Palace in Vienna.

First though, please do allow me to talk (geek out) about the artists.

Rubens takes some time to warm up to because of his unconventional figures. All of his people, whether women or men, are built. They all look incredibly sturdy. Seriously, I would not wanna take any of his ladies in a fight.

But their solidity is almost palpable and the subject matter is often in stark contrast with his lighter color palette.

Rembrandt's work can only be described as haunting.

His portraits have a distinct play of light and shadow that even today artists reference. For example, in my VCU classes I have heard something like this from a professor multiple times: "If we move the light source over here, you get that nice Rembrandt lighting."

Rembrandt focused on portraits, which are always more interesting to me than other types of paintings.

Lastly, Raphael. One of the great Italian renaissance painters. Raphael's work is appealing to me mostly because of his renown. His style does not particularly awe me, but there is something surreal about standing before the work of an artist that you've read about and whose work you've only seen through a screen.

Alright, I'll stop.

As far as the Palace itself goes, it is located at Fürstengasse 1 1090 Vienna. Unfortunately, tours are sparse and there is only one public tour while we are in Vienna: July 11 at 3:00 pm. The tour also costs 20 Euros. In 2012, the museum closed to regular tours and the organization running it decided to focus on primarily high end private events, which I think is very unfortunate. I would love to splurge and see this palace and, more importantly, the paintings, but this particular museum is a little lower than some of the cheaper ones on my list. 

Information: 
http://www.palaisliechtenstein.com/en/home.html

Images: 
http://ppcdn.500px.org/39322944/793f0dee9f0c80170cb1ef08cd243a1a8ad71797/2048.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Peter_Paul_Rubens_-_Diana_Returning_from_Hunt_-_WGA20290.jpg

http://artinbulk.com/image/famous%20artist/Rubens/rubens_020.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0bRMI6VHY88ERsq851saX6eMFtLRC5RxplbEtXjwMJ9zWZBdH55u8pOFxQLhxIkQfWwql-M_kKj8768kXSnWcXdED4Pru_yUHHP8AvlHXJrLHinfPwAUg-URcB09CMKcm7CpDdE6pOUs/s1600/Rembrandt_Harmenszoon_van_Rijn-Self_Portrait-1660-222256-edited_DC_lvl11.jpg

http://gabriellevonbernstorff.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/240px-raffaello_madonna_cowper.jpg