Mākslas muzejs Rīgas Birža

Art Museum Riga Bourse stands in Riga’s Old Town, where narrow streets surround a Venetian Renaissance palazzo. Terracotta sculptures and decorative details cover the façade, built for the Riga Stock Exchange in 1856.

Inside, more than 22,000 works trace world art from the fourth millennium BC to the twentieth century. European and Asian galleries accompany chambers devoted to Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and Rome, while the former stock exchange vault holds Egyptian objects behind original neo-Gothic doors. Paintings include works by Claude Monet and Louis-Léopold Boilly, alongside sculpture by Antonio Canova, Auguste Rodin, and Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux. Porcelain from Arita, Meissen, and Sèvres, a Fabergé bird carafe, Cantonese ivory puzzle balls, and a Wayang shadow theatre set extend the collection beyond painting and sculpture.

The museum’s history reaches from private collectors such as Nikolaus von Himsel and Domenico de’ Robbiani to Friedrich Wilhelm Brederlo, whose gift included more than 200 paintings. Fire damage from January 1980 remains visible in parts of the building, adding a physical trace to its layered past.