The Liebieghaus is a late 19th-century villa in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Germany. It contains a sculpture museum, the , which is part of the Museumsufer on the Sachsenhausen bank of the River Main. The collection comprises some 3,000 sculptures, spanning over 5,000 years of culture.

History

The Liebieghaus was built in 1896 based on designs by Leonhard Romeis, in a palatial, historicist style, as a retirement home for the

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

n textile manufacturer Baron (1839–1904). The city of Frankfurt acquired the building in 1908 and devoted it to the sculpture collection. The first director of the was . In 1909, built a gallery wing extension to the villa, that was completed in 1990 by Scheffler and Warschauer. A renovation was completed in October 2009. This included adding a publicly accessible "Open Depot" in the gallery wing basement, making it possible for the first time to view certain parts of the collection that are not in the permanent exhibition. , the exhibition space is . Max Hollein was the director from January 2006 to 2016, followed by Philipp Demandt. Since 2007, Vinzenz Brinkmann has headed the antiquities collection. His main research areas are the colors of antiquity and ancient myths. Since 2006, Stefan Roller has been the head of the Medieval Department. His research focuses on Southern German sculpture of the Late Gothic period.

Collection

The museum includes ancient

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Roman sculpture The study of Roman sculpture is complicated by its relation to Sculpture of Ancient Greece, Greek sculpture. Many examples of even the most famous Greek sculptures, such as the ''Apollo Belvedere'' and ''Barberini Faun'', are known only from Roman ...

, as well as Medieval, Baroque, Renaissance and

Classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

pieces, and works from the Far East. The collection was built up mostly through endowments and international purchases. The building stands on the Schaumainkai, in a garden in which a number of sculptures are also on display, including a replica of Dannecker's ''Ariadne on the Panther''. The original, which was acquired by the banker Simon Moritz von Bethmann in 1810, is in the depot. Other major exhibits include: *A marble discobolus *A marble statue of

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

, a Roman copy of a Greek original by Myron *

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

s carved from ivory (mid-9th century) *An Ottonian crucifix (mid-11th century) *A Romanesque king's head from a statue from the

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

*Fragments from a Florentine tomb by Tino di Camaino (probably after 1318) *An alabaster sculpture of the Trinity by Hans Multscher ( 1430) *A Woman of the Apocalypse by Tilman Riemenschneider *The Rimini Altar, an alabaster

calvary Calvary ( or ) or Golgotha () was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, Jesus was crucified. Since at least the early medieval period, it has been a destination for pilgrimage. ...

from northern France ( 1430) *A bust of Barbara von Ottenheim by Nikolaus Gerhaert (1463–64) *Abbot Saint, a late Gothic wooden sculpture

Permanent exhibitions

* ''Splendid White'' – Reiner Winkler's ivory collection (gallery wing basement)

Temporary exhibitions

* 2008/2009: '' Gods in Color'' * 2011/2012: '' Nikolaus Gerhaert. The Medieval Sculptor'' * 2012: '' Jeff Koons. The Sculptor (at the Liebieghaus)'' * 2013: ''Back to Classic. Ancient Greece reconsidered'' * 2015/2016: ''Dangerous Liaisons. The Art of the French Rococo'' * 2020/2021: ''Gods in Color – Golden Edition'' * 2021/2022: ''Mission Rimini'' * 2023/2024: ''Machine room of the gods''

Gallery

Liebieghaus-iset-en-heb-ffm-002.jpg, Coffin of the priestess "Iset-en-kheb", Egypt Athene des Myron Liebieghaus image01.jpg, Myron's Athena, Roman replica Diskuswerfer Liebieghaus 2608.jpg, Discus thrower, Roman replica of a Greek statue possibly by Naukydes of Argos Liebieghaus-hl.-abt-2011-ffm-079.jpg, Abbot Saint Rimini-Altar Liebieghaus 01.jpg, Rimini Altarpiece Andrea della Robbia Madonna della Cintola Liebieghaus.jpg, Andrea della Robbia ''Madonna della Cintola'' Hans Multscher Maria Magdalena Liebieghaus 1039.jpg, Hans Multscher ''St. Mary Magdalene'' Furie auf sprengendem Pferd.jpg, ''Spendid White'': Master of the Furies Fury on a charging horse Liebieghaus-2014-Ariadne-auf-dem-Panther-Ffm-410.jpg, Johann Heinrich von Dannecker's ''Ariadne on the Panther'' Liebieghaus Schaudepot 1.jpg, show depot

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * {{Authority control Museums in Frankfurt Art museums and galleries established in 1909 Art museums and galleries in Germany Buildings and structures in Frankfurt Sculpture galleries in Germany 1909 establishments in Germany