Antiquarium

Magnificent Renaissance banqueting hall inside the Munich Residenz, covered in elaborate grotesque paintings — one of the finest early-modern interiors in central Europe.

The Antiquarium of the Munich Residenz is considered one of the finest surviving Renaissance halls north of the Alps. Duke Albrecht V commissioned the long vaulted room between 1568 and 1571 to house his growing collection of ancient busts, vases, and marble sculptures. Within decades, Duke Wilhelm V transformed the ground floor into a grand banqueting hall: hundreds of grotesque paintings, Bavarian landscape vedute, and mythological scenes now cover every surface in an overwhelming Mannerist programme. The hall became a setting for ducal celebrations and diplomatic receptions, a function it retained for centuries. Today it forms part of the Residenzmuseum tour, inviting visitors to step into the same overwhelming opulence that once dazzled the princes of Bavaria.