Gallery of the Town Bratislava

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Gallery of the Town Bratislava
Bratislava

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The Gallery of the Town Bratislava (GTB – formerly the Municipal Gallery in Bratislava) was set up on January 1, 1959, as centres of the Homeland Institute of the town Bratislava. When this organization was abolished, the GTB itself became in 1961 a cultural- educational institution. Next to the Slovak National Gallery it is the second largest art collecting institute in Bratislava. Its mission includes research and purchase of works of art from the past and the present, with a view to Bratislava's provenance. It collects works of professional artists, processes their documentation, preserves, restores and makes them accesible to the public in the form of permanent exhibitions and occasional displays. The GTB is housed in the Mirbach palace, but the public may view permanent exhibitions of fine art from the collections of this gallery also in two further buildings. The Mirbach Palace is itself a jewel of Bratislava's Rococo architecture. It was built in 1768 – 1770 and belonged to the Bratislava brewer M. Spech. Its further owners were finally count E. Mirbach (until 1945) and in 1963 the palace was declared a cultural monument and after its renovation in 1975 is the seat of the GTB. The Primatial Palace is one of the most valuable architectural monuments in Bratislava. It was built in 1778 – 1781 on orders of the archbishop of Esztergom, Cardinal J.Batthányi. The architect was M. Hefele. The most famous is the mirror hall in which the Bratislava Peace was signed in 1805 after the battle of Austerlitz (Slavkov), between Francis I and Napoleon. The most precious exhibit, exceeding by its uniquenees the framework of Slovakia, is a collection of six tapestries. They were made in the royal weaving works at Mortlake near London in 17th century accoding to designs by F.Cleyn. The Palffy Palace was reconstructed and archaeologically surveyed in 1981 – 1987. Of specific significance were finds proving a continuous Celtic settlement and also finds from the Slavonic period. This palace has Romanesque-Gothic foundations and Neo-Classicist facade. The GTB utilizes the palace since 1988 for introducing its collections.

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