A visitor looks at Peter Paul Rubens' "Philemon and Baucis Giving Hospitality to Jupiter and Mercury," during the press opening of "Six Centuries of Beauty in the Habsburg Empire" exhibition at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul. (Yonhap)

An exhibition highlighting art of the Habsburg Empire is currently underway at the National Museum of Korea, presenting 96 works collected by the House of Habsburg from the 15th century to the early 20th century, including Baroque and Renaissance masterpieces.

For more than 600 years from Rudolf I’s election as Holy Roman emperor in 1273, until the collapse of the regime of Charles I in 1918, the Habsburg Dynasty was at the heart of European history, ruling over vast portions of Europe.

The Habsburgs were avid patrons and collectors of art, collecting works by prominent artists, including Peter Paul Rubens, Diego Velazquez and Anthony Van Dyck, whose works are now considered canonical in Western art history.

"Among the many special items to see at this exhibition, one item that really stands out is a Korean prince's coat presented as a gift from King Gojong to Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1892, to mark the establishment of bilateral relations between Korea and Austria," Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said during a press conference Tuesday, at the NMK's special exhibition hall, marking the opening of "Six Centuries of Beauty in the Habsburg Empire," held in partnership with Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien in Vienna. The coat is being shown in Korea for the first time in 130 years.

A shell-shaped bowl with designs of acanthus leaves and volute bands with a figurine of Neptune on top, created by Ottavio Miseroni (1567-1624) (Kim Hae-yeon/The Korea Herald)

The exhibition is part of celebrations to mark 130 years of diplomatic relations between Korea and Austria.

Sabine Haag, director general of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, emphasized that most of the collections have never been in Korea before, and hoped that Korean visitors can take the time to view and indulge in the art.

"Seen together, the collections reveal the pomp and splendor, the regalia and rituals, the prestige and spectacle associated with the Habsburg rulers," Haag said at the exhibition's opening.

Divided into five sections, the exhibition examines the roles of principal collectors who were emperors and archdukes, with collections that range from portraits and landscape paintings to tapestries, armors, ornaments, bowls and baskets.

The exhibition runs through March 1. Tickets cost 17,500 won for those aged 25 to 64, 15,000 won for ages 13 to 24 and 6,000 won for ages 4 to 6. Tickets for seniors 65 years and older are 8,000 won.