Benkő Andrea: A Guide to Petőfi Literary Museum (Budapest, 2009)

The History of the Palace

THE HISTORY OF THE PALACE

Károly Lotz: Múzsák [Muses] (1889)

collection of the Budapest Picture Gallery could find in it a worthy place. The private palace was turned into a public building and stripped of everything that was thought not to be in keeping with this: its textile hangings, chandeliers, wall-mirrors, fireplaces and movable property were all removed. In 1932 the interior furnishings, the rich picture gallery and the treasures of the silver chamber were auctioned off. Approximately one hundred of the most valuable pieces in the family portrait gallery and objects considered especially precious in artistic or cultural-historical terms were transferred to the National Museum on the recommendation of a select committee. In 1953, after 21 years, the Budapest Picture Gallery closed down and its collection was added to that of the Museum of Fine Arts.

Petőfi Literary Museum (from 1957)

Established in 1954, the Petőfi Literary Museum was opened in 1957. Until 1998 the institution shared the building with the repository and workrooms of the Hungarian National Museum and the Budapest History

Museum. The plan of the latter to move out provided grounds for major renovation of the building, which took place between 1998 and 2000. Designers of the architectural project and art history experts contributed so that the building could well serve the three main functions of the Petőfi Literary Museum: the exhibitions, the scientific research and processing work, and the organising of events.

Anna T. Ridovics