Church treasuries could be considered an early form of museums of church art. Simple in their organization and structure, they played an important role in preserving important treasures associated with sacral monuments of individual cultural environments. Let us remind ourselves of the glittering Mannerist treasury of the Dubrovnik cathedral, of the incredible artefacts of the treasury of the Zagreb cathedral, some of which date back to the 11th century, or of The Gold and Silver of Zadar, preserved by the Zadar Benedictine nuns. Museums of church art, particularly numerous in the area of Western Europe, are entirely specific museum institutions already because of the sensitivity of the exhibits that require particularly careful design and conservation treatments.

 

In the immediate vicinity of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, a museum was founded in 1973, with the centuries-old treasures of this central religious institution of the Habsburg Monarchy. Situated in a late-Biedermeier palace, which houses members of the high priesthood, this museum was not present in the image of the city nucleus, as its entrance was almost hidden in the inner courtyard of the palace. However, there was a dual opening of the museum in 2017, both in terms of content and in terms of design. In the design by the architect Boris Podrecca, the entrance was transferred from the somewhat obscure courtyard to the front facade, thus securing the presence of the museum in the very nucleus of the city, in the focus of the daily movement of thousands of people.