The Art and History Museum was opened in 1891. It is located just south of the Old Town, the distance from this museum to St. Stephen's Cathedral is less than one kilometre. The museum collection consists mainly of works of art and antiquities collected by members of the Habsburg imperial dynasty. It is the largest art museum in the whole of Austria.
Opposite the art and history museum is the Museum of Natural History, in an identical Neo-Renaissance style. The building itself is of great length and is topped by a powerful octagonal dome, which reaches a height of 60 metres. The interior is richly decorated with marble, gilding and stucco.
The museum's collection is divided into several departments - the art of Ancient Egypt and the Middle East, Ancient Greek and Roman antique art, halls with sculptures and much more. Separate galleries are dedicated to decorative arts, as well as a collection of ancient coins. There is also a large city library on the grounds of the museum.
However, the most popular department of the museum is its art gallery, which houses works by Italian, Flemish and Dutch artists. Among the "Old Masters", Titian, Raphael, Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt, Bosch and especially Pieter Bruegel the Elder should be mentioned. It is believed that the museum holds about a third of the artworks of this Flemish artist. It also houses unique jewellery works by Benvenuto Cellini, no longer preserved anywhere else.
The art gallery also has sections devoted entirely to Austrian Gothic and Austrian Mannerism. There are also works by some French, Spanish and English artists, such as Nicolas Poussin, Diego Velázquez and Thomas Gainsborough.
