Earlier pieces of art from the Iron Age and Roman finds from Brigantium are
exhibited in the Vorarlberg Landesmuseum. From the churches, built in the
Romanesque period, nothing is left but some foundation
walls. In the churches in Nüziders and St. Peter´s in Rankweil, you find remains
of Romanesque frescoes. At that time the mighty Schattenburg castle was built
above Feldkirch. Like anywhere in the Alpine region, many secular buildings were
set up in the Gothic period.
Well worth seeing are the gothic frescoes (Bartholomäberg, St. Martin in
Mittelberg, Damülser Bergkirche, Martinskapelle in the Martin´s tower in Bregenz) and wonderful winged altars (Bartholomäberg and Frommengärsch). St. Nikolaus´ cathedral in Feldkirch is a rare example of the interim period of Late Gothic to Renaissance. During the Renaissance mainly town houses and mansions were built.
An extraordinary example of Italian Renaissance is Castle Hohenems.
The carved high altar (around 1580) in the church of Hohenems is a notable
piece of art. The masters of the Vorarlberg Bauschule (Vorarlberg School of
Architecture) have made tremendous contributions to the development of Baroque
architecture in the Alpine region.
A uniform Rococo style shows parish church of St. Gallenkirch. In the time from Late Baroque to Classicism, Angelika Kauffmann, a famous painter, made notable contributions to the art of Vorarlberg (church of Schwarzenberg, paintings and portraits in the Vorarlberger Landesmuseum).
Church building in the 19th century was dominated by Historicism (Bludenz family of artists Jehly and Montafon dynasty of artists Bertle).
