The Unteres Belvedere houses the Baroque art collection in the main building and the medieval collection in the adjacent Orangery. The Unteres Belvedere maintained much of its original interior and is thus a splendid setting for these mainly Austrian works of the eighteenth century.

The most impressive room in the palace is the two story marble room with a fine ceiling fresco by Martino Altomonte depicting the Apotheosis of Prince Eugene. Most of the room is filled by the original lead figures from the Providential Fountain by Georg Raphael Donner. The voluptuous maidens and sexy males of this fountain enraged Maria Theresa’s public morals’ commission to such extent that the fountain had to be removed. Although the work was condemned to be destroyed, it was fortunately saved. A copper copy is in use at Neuen Markt.

Another highlight of the collection is the heads by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt. These sculptures of funny faces look far more modern than the late-Baroque period. The museum has 49 of the original 69 faces. According to some, Messerschmidt pulled faces in the mirror for inspiration but other sources claim he depicted people who spoke evil of him in court. The statues of Maria Theresa and her husband Francois, Duke of Lorraine, in the marble room are also his work – not a muscle pulling skew here.

I was somewhat surprised to suddenly find myself face to face with the very well known painting of Napoleon on the St Bernhard Pass. This huge work of Napoleon on his white horse by Jacques Louis David would clearly have been more at home in Paris. The color of Napoleon’s bright red coat and detailing of his uniform are as vivid as I recall from pictures of this painting in history books.

The final highlight in the collection is the last room in the palace: the Gold Room. This room is High Baroque and decorated with gilded carved woodwork and mirrors. In the center of the room is a huge statue – the Apotheosis of Prince Eugene – sculptured by Balthasar Permoser. Prince Eugene personally ordered this work from the Bavarian born, Viennese trained artist who was working at the Saxon court in Dresden at the time. The statue reflects several times in the various mirrors – vanity clearly was not in short supply.

A door from the final hall leads via open paths to the Medieval Collection in the Orangery – presumably, the guard here catches up on sleep on rainy days when visitors had to deposit their rain gear at the main entrance. On our visit, he found it necessary to closely follow our troupe, so for his benefit I spent extra time at the largely unprotected better-known works. Although the collection is a fine selection of Austrian religious art from the Late Gothic period, it is somewhat unexciting coming at the end of a morning that included the magnificent and more exciting works in the other collections.

In the early eighteenth century, Prince Eugene of Savoy constructed two marvelous baroque palaces as summer residence outside the city walls of Vienna. Even today, when these palaces are very much in the heart of Vienna, the views from Belvedere are still marvelous.

The simpler Unteres (Lower) Belvedere palace served as residence, while the far more impressive Oberes (Upper) Belvedere was purely for ceremonial purposes, such as receptions, balls, and diplomatic conferences. It is considered one of the best examples of Baroque architecture in the world.

Nowadays, many visitors enter the Belvedere complex from the north via the Unteres Belvedere due to its proximity to the public transportation friendly Schwarzenberger Platz. More by luck than design, tram 18 was more convenient from our rental apartment and we could enter the complex from the south as its original creator intended. Passing through the impressive, crowned iron gate, we saw the Belvedere in all its splendor.

Although the portico, with its marvelous mascarons, survived to the present, this original main entrance was closed off when Archduke Franz Ferdinand used the palace as residence during the early-twentieth century. The palace is almost as splendid when viewed from the garden, but the main façade behind the huge reflection pool shows off the typically baroque architectural features the best.

The axis clearly allows plenty of light into the piano nobile – this was after all a ceremonial palace and nothing but well-lit reception rooms would do. Being a Baroque building, the pilasters of the piano nobile are naturally not plain but the piers of the attic storey are even more decorative. The modillion runs around the building with sufficient acroterions for the vast number of statues and ornaments that any respectable Baroque palace requires. The palace has a typically weathered green mansard roof with lucarnes in the lower and steeper part of its double slope. Cowls in the upper part of the roof confirm that eighteenth century architects understood the basics of ventilation. The domed roofs of the outer pavilions remind of Turkish tents – less anyone forgets why Prince Eugene became famous! Before passing on either side of the building to the gardens, from where the present entrance leads into the building, note the height of the socle and compare it with that on the northern façade.

The huge formal garden separates the two palaces. It is filled with formal style elements and a huge number of statues. Most impressive are the large sphinxes in the upper garden area. These statues with the body of a winged lion and the head (and breasts) of a woman represent strength and intelligence – Prince Eugene had both in abundance.

I was surprised and delighted to see the wealth of dandelion in the lawns of the Belvedere (and at Schloss Schönbrunn for that matter). I promptly declared my battle with this weed in my garden over.

Architect Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt designed the Lower Belvedere for Prince Eugene of Savoy, who was hailed as Austria’s greatest military leader and a savior for Christianity. Constructed from 1714 to 1716, this served as a royal summer residence and displays a sumptuous Baroque style with lavish marble interiors. The Orangery and palace stables are located here. The building of the Upper Belvedere, which was the more ceremonial of the two palace blocks, followed from 1721 to 1723. The two buildings are connected with the stunning symmetrical gardens (by Dominique Girard) complete with greenhouses, a zoo, sphinxes, sculptures and fountains. Over the years, the royals amassed quite a collection of artworks. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination in Sarajevo in 1914 sparked World War I, resided in the Belvedere for a number of years after a remodeling orchestrated by architect Emil von Forster. Both the Upper and Lower Belvederes were heavily damaged during air raids at the end of World War II, but today the buildings are as grand as ever.

Today the Upper Belvedere holds the Austrian Gallery of the 19th and 20th Centuries, highlighted by its exciting collection of Gustav Klimt masterpieces (including "The Kiss") along with works by Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka (one of my favorite artist names). There are also works from the Viennese Biedermeier era, and French impressionists too. Look out upon Vienna from the north side of the Upper Belvedere.

The Lower Belvedere turns the clock back a bit further with its fine collection of Medieval art and Baroque works. One of the most notable paintings is Jacques Louis David's "Napoleon on the St. Bernard Pass". The Orangery features wood sculptures from the Romanesque and Gothic periods.