Over 120 treasures owned by the royal family of Liechtenstein will be exhibited in Hong Kong for the first time at the Hong Kong Palace Museum from Nov. 9.
It will be the first display of Western artifacts after the museum opened on July 3 with a show featuring an art collection of Chinese emperors.
The microstate of Liechtenstein, which covers 160 square kilometers, or twice the size of Hong Kong Island, is south of Germany and in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. It is one of the wealthiest countries on Earth, and the House of Liechtenstein is one of the oldest lineages in Europe.
The princes of the royal family have amassed art for more than 400 years, establishing one of the largest and most important collections of paintings, sculptures and carpets in the world today.
Curating teams of the collection and the museum handpicked some 124 pieces from over 30,000 items for the special exhibition titled Odysseys of Art: Masterpieces Collected by the Princes of Liechtenstein, which runs until February 20.
Almost 40 masterpieces featured in the exhibition come from two of the most gifted of Baroque painters in Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck.
Divided into eight thematic sections, the exhibition in the museum's Gallery 8 casts reveals much about Liechtenstein's history of art collecting. Central to the story are five princes whose passion for art shaped what are known today as the Princely Collections.
Each of the featured princes enriched the whole through unique talents.
Through the Chinese ceramics the princes collected and the gardens they commissioned visitors can also appreciate the influence of Chinese art and culture on European decorative arts and architecture.
Admission to Odysseys of Art is HK$120 for adults, with a concessionary ticket costing HK$60.
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