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Liechtenstein's Royal Artifacts Go on Display at Family Palace

Prince Hans-Adam’s (left) and Crown Prince Alois have inherited wealth that originates from the 12th century and bigger than that of Queen Elizabeth. (Reuters)
Prince Hans-Adam’s (left) and Crown Prince Alois have inherited wealth that originates from the 12th century and bigger than that of Queen Elizabeth. (Reuters)
    Vienna, London - Asharq Al-Awsat
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Liechtenstein's Royal Artifacts Go on Display at Family Palace

Prince Hans-Adam’s (left) and Crown Prince Alois have inherited wealth that originates from the 12th century and bigger than that of Queen Elizabeth. (Reuters)
Prince Hans-Adam’s (left) and Crown Prince Alois have inherited wealth that originates from the 12th century and bigger than that of Queen Elizabeth. (Reuters)

The small Principality of Liechtenstein celebrates its third centennial anniversary this year. On this occasion, 110 artifacts selected from a treasure including 1700 paintings and tens of thousands other items will be displayed in Vienna, Austria.

The Liechtenstein family is one of Europe's wealthiest noble families, and its assets include a huge artistic treasure that is not usually offered to the general public.

Liechtenstein princes have been collecting artifacts for over four centuries. This remarkable period is displayed at the Albertina Museum, where the bust of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius welcomes visitors.

Other works include a surrealist portrait of painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo, which is a complex fusion of different animals.

"We stopped collecting contemporary art at the end of the 19th century," Prince Alois, the heir of Liechtenstein's throne, told Austrian television in Albertina.

The paintings are usually shown at the Royal Family Palace in Vienna known for its historic interior golden design, rather than under museum conditions.

According to the German News Agency, Alois's ancestors lived in Vienna until the Nazis took control of Austria in 1938. They then settled in Liechtenstein, a small country between Austria and Switzerland.

The Liechtenstein family, after which the principality has been named, has a wealth that includes a private bank as well as forestry and industrial investments.

Hans-Adam II, the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein, started the costly refurbishment of the palace and the family-owned palace in Vienna to showcase its art collection, but he declared the museum palace closed in 2011 because he was disappointed with the number of visitors. The palace located in the city center was completed without being opened to the public.

Visitors can still see interior design in guided tours a few times a month. Those who are willing to pay more can get an exclusive entry on a private tour for 250 euros ($282), or spend several thousand euros to book a private party or wedding at the former royal palace.

The "Rubens to Makart Liechtenstein, The Princely Collections" exhibition will run in Albertina until June 10.

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Nearby Sculptor Galaxy Revealed in Ultra-Detailed Galactic Image

This undated handout image released by European Southern Observatory on June 17, 2025 shows a detailed, thousand-color image of the Sculptor Galaxy captured with the MUSE instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). (Handout / European Southern Observatory / AFP)
This undated handout image released by European Southern Observatory on June 17, 2025 shows a detailed, thousand-color image of the Sculptor Galaxy captured with the MUSE instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). (Handout / European Southern Observatory / AFP)
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Nearby Sculptor Galaxy Revealed in Ultra-Detailed Galactic Image

This undated handout image released by European Southern Observatory on June 17, 2025 shows a detailed, thousand-color image of the Sculptor Galaxy captured with the MUSE instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). (Handout / European Southern Observatory / AFP)
This undated handout image released by European Southern Observatory on June 17, 2025 shows a detailed, thousand-color image of the Sculptor Galaxy captured with the MUSE instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). (Handout / European Southern Observatory / AFP)

The Sculptor galaxy is similar in many respects to our Milky Way. It is about the same size and mass, with a similar spiral structure. But while it is impossible to get a full view of the Milky Way from the vantage point of Earth because we are inside the galaxy, Sculptor is perfectly positioned for a good look.

Astronomers have done just that, releasing an ultra-detailed image of the Sculptor galaxy on Wednesday obtained with 50 hours of observations using one of the world's biggest telescopes, the European Southern Observatory's Chile-based Very Large Telescope.

The image shows Sculptor, also called NGC 253, in around 4,000 different colors, each corresponding to a specific wavelength in the optical spectrum.

Because various galactic components emit light differently across the spectrum, the observations are providing information at unprecedented detail on the inner workings of an entire galaxy, from star formation to the motion of interstellar gas on large scales. Conventional images in astronomy offer only a handful of colors, providing less information.

The researchers used the telescope's Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer, or MUSE, instrument.

"NGC 253 is close enough that we can observe it in remarkable detail with MUSE, yet far enough that we can still see the entire galaxy in a single field of view," said astronomer Enrico Congiu, a fellow at the European Southern Observatory in Santiago, and lead author of research being published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

"In the Milky Way, we can achieve extremely high resolution, but we lack a global view since we're inside it. For more distant galaxies, we can get a global view, but not the fine detail. That's why NGC 253 is such a perfect target: it acts as a bridge between the ultra-detailed studies of the Milky Way and the large-scale studies of more distant galaxies. It gives us a rare opportunity to connect the small-scale physics with the big-picture view," Congiu said.

Sculptor is about 11 million light-years from Earth, making it one of the closest big galaxies to the Milky Way. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km).

Like the Milky Way, it is a barred spiral galaxy, meaning it has an elongated structure extending from its nucleus, with spiral arms extending from the ends of the bar. Its diameter of about 88,000 light-years is similar to the Milky Way's, as is its total mass. One major difference is Sculptor's rate of new star formation, estimated to be two to three times greater than that of the Milky Way.

Nearly 30% of this star formation is happening near the galaxy's nucleus in what is called a starburst region, as revealed in colorful emissions shown in the new image.

The observations have given information on a wide range of properties such as the motion, age and chemical composition of stars and the movement of interstellar gas, an important component of any galaxy.

"Since the light from stars is typically bluer if the stars are young or redder if the stars are old, having thousands of colors lets us learn a lot about what stars and populations of stars exist in the galaxy," said astronomer Kathryn Kreckel of Heidelberg University in Germany, a study co-author.

"Similarly for the gas, it glows in specific bright emission lines at very specific colors, and tells us about the different elements that exist in the gas, and what is causing it to glow," Kreckel said.

The initial research being published from the observations involves planetary nebulae, which are luminous clouds of gas and dust expelled by certain dying stars. Despite their name, they have nothing to do with planets. These nebulae can help astronomers measure the precise distances of faraway galaxies.

The researchers marveled at the scientific and aesthetic value of the new view of Sculptor.

"I personally find these images amazing," Congiu said. "What amazes me the most is that every time I look at them, I notice something new - another nebula, a splash of unexpected color or some subtle structure that hints at the incredible physics behind it all."