Medieaval Hungarian, Austrian and German Painting and Sculpture

The President of the Art History Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences presented the Opus Mirabile Award for the most outstanding art-historical work of 2017 to Emese Sarkadi Nagy for the online catalogue of the Christian Museum’s medieval objects from Hungary and from the German and Austrian territories.

Italian renaissace and baroque painting (permanent exhibition)

The more than one hundred exhibited works of the world renowned Italian collection of the Christian Museum present an almost unbroken overview of Italian painting between the late 13th and 18th centuries

Mediaeval Netherlandish Painting

The collection of Netherlandish paintings in the Christian Museum does not give as complete an overview of the art of the region, as the Italian collection does, but it includes some outstanding works. Memling’s and Jan van Hemessen’s works indicate the si

19th century Paintings and Sculptures

The museum founder János Simor’s intention was to collect the art of old times in order to promote the understanding of contemporary art in any given period. He also regularly commissioned and purchased works from the living artists he appreciated. He favoured especially paintings, prints, and drawings created in a deeply religious spirit

20th and 21st century paintings and sculptures

In the past fifty years, greater emphasis has been placed in the Museum on the acquisition of contemporary works. Noteworthy pieces have complemented the historic collection.

Icons and Orthodox Metalworks

The earliest, 16-17th century icons in Esztergom are of Greek and South-Italian origin and were acquired from Arnold Ipolyi’s collection. Besides the Russian icons, a few 19th-20th-century pieces represent the icon-painting art of the peoples of orthodox

Selected Works from the Collections

The Memory of Holy Years on Papal Medals (exhibition, 2024–2025); tapestries; prints by Antoni Waterloo; József Pituk’s Divine Comedy; works by Ernő Fischer; prints by László Nádas; Piroska Szántó’s biblical paintings; and prints by Arany Bazsonyi.

Permanent Exhibition

Collection of Prints and Drawings

The graphic collection, numbering more than 5,000 items, preserves prints, watercolours, and drawings from five centuries. The sheets largely come from the collection of Archbishop János Simor, the museum’s founder.

Collection of the of Applied Arts

Almost all forms of the decorative arts are represented in the collection of the Christian Museum: metalwork (liturgical objects, table decoration, cutlery, clocks, clothing accessories), textiles (liturgical vestments, tapestries, eastern carpets, laces, folk and aristocratic embroidery), ceramics (Chinese porcelain, delftware, porcelain from all the European manufacturers, Habán ceramics, glass, decorative vases), glass painting (16-19th c.), and ivory carvings (12-19th c.).