Österreichische Zeitschrift für Kunst und Denkmalpflege LXXVIII, Heft 1

This article investigates the motif of the antique columns of honor with a circumferential pictorial frieze in the work of the architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, who was able to study Trajan’s Column and the Column of Marcus Aurelius intensively during his long stay in Rome. At that time, Bernini had already presented suggestions for their artistic and political realization—both in Rome and in Paris—with which Fischer was supposedly familiar, but the use of the triumphal columns in his own work demonstrates a handling of the significant motif that is quite comparable. Fisher used triumphal columns repeatedly and, at the same time, always at crucial points in his designs. The first time was in 1690 in the triumphal arch of the Fremden Niederleger (foreign abdicator), and the most monumental one was in Vienna’s Karlskirche, which gives the two gigantic columns—junctions of architectural and programmatic concepts—their unique appearance and effect.

Schlagworte:

The triumphal columns built at Karlskirche in Vienna from 1724 to 1730 have undergone extensive renovation work since 2020: In 2020 and 2023, the stone reliefs were in an alarming state and removed and photographed by our company, Restoration Company of Mag. Klaus Wedenig. The damage was documented in maps, and emergency safety measures had to be taken. In 2021, sample surfaces were applied to test methods and primarily define the goal for the upcoming restoration. The newly acquired photos were compared with historical photos from 1905, and formal changes were explored during the numerous restorations. The developed view of the winding columns, which was created to document the exemplary conservation from photogrammetric mapping, allowed the illustrations of the Albrechtscodex (ÖNB, Cod. 7853) to be compared with the completed reliefs for the first time.

Schlagworte:

The restoration of the right (west) triumphal column of Karlskirche in Vienna, which began in 2024, prompted a comprehensive reappraisal of the restoration history of the two columns, which were created around 1730. The work involved examining archival sources and thoroughly analyzing the stone surfaces, the copper eagle and crown, and the wooden elements of the lantern. The restorative and scientific examinations performed to accompany the ongoing work offered insight into an almost 300-year-old construction history and helped to characterize previously undated restoration phases and establish connections between reworkings of stone and metal surfaces. A total of eight restoration phases for the stone surfaces of the right column and at least six gildings for the eagle sculptures have been verified.

Schlagworte:

The facade of Karlskirche has been interpreted with analogies since its inception. The questions focus on the changes in content compared with the original concept of Fischer von Erlach and possible templates for the column relief. The sculptures of 1715–1738 were designed by the city’s leading sculptors, all of whom were connected with the court and the academy: Antonio Canavese, Johann Stanetti, Lorenzo Mattielli, and Christoph Mader, along with their workers. They represented a moderate Baroque style influenced by that of Northern Italy, which matched the architecture of Johann Bernhard and Joseph Emanuel Fischer. Although hardly any of the original stone material is left, the appearance was maintained to the extent that the sculptor’s individual stylistic characteristics are recognizable within the ensemble.

Schlagworte:

The restoration of the room shell of Johannesspitalskirche (Hospital Church of St. John) in Salzburg was completed in 2023. Johannesspitalskirche was built according to plans of the later Habsburg court architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (1656–1723), who began working in 1691 on behalf of the Prince-Archbishop Johann Ernst Graf von Thun und Hohenstein (1643–1709) in Salzburg. One strong indicator of the breaks in the biography of a historical monument is the changing of its colors. The periodic maintenance and repainting of architectural surfaces over the centuries attests to the human desire for change. The restored layered stairs at the wall and stucco surfaces offer insights into the rich history of monuments. Some might think these changes refer only to the time before the monument was granted protected status and that preserving historical monuments would permanently preclude any desire to make a fashionable change to the architectural color. Countless examples prove that the opposite is true. The esthetic consequence of a three-decade campaign of restoration attempts in the Johannesspitalskirche and the following decision to restore the original color led to an architecturally coherent (and unexpected) “new” appearance.

Schlagworte:

In Nezamyslice, next to Church of the Assumption of Mary, stands the Erasmus Chapel, which was founded in the first half of the seventeenth century. In 1707–1708, the Cardinal and Prince-Bishop of Passau, Johann Philipp von Lamberg, purchased the estate; the Austrian House of Lamberg later set up its family tomb in the chapel. In the 1850s, Gustav Joachim von Lamberg had an ensemble of Renaissance gravestones and epitaphs of his forebears from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries transferred from the cancelled cemetery at Kirche St. Peter in Salzburg to his estate, which was later moved to the Erasmus Chapel. By doing so, he rescued not only significant works specific to sepulchral sculpture, but also praised the long continuity of his house. The transport of the Salzburg family gravestone to Bohemia is not only an interesting cultural and historical phenomenon but also enriches the view of the Austrian–Bavarian production of sepulchral works in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Schlagworte:

This study aims to highlight the specific manifestations and iconography of the Eucharistic devotion of the Rosalienkapelle of the Jesuit Church Kirche am Hof, Vienna. By consulting the Litterae Annuae (the annual report of the Austrian Province to the General of the Jesuit Order in Rome) and the Historia Domus of Kirche am Hof, I was able to emphasize new aspects of the decoration, such as stuccowork, altarpieces, and ephemeral decorations. Dynastic representation and international alliances of the Habsburgs played an important part in shaping the architecture and decoration of the church dedicated to the Nine Choirs of Angels. The statue of the Virgin Mary standing in front of the church was inspired by the monument of the Immaculate Conception in Munich that was governed by the Wittelsbachs, who were strong allies of the Habsburgs. Masters executing stuccowork in Munich and Vienna came from the Lugano region of Northern Italy. Netherlandish influences can also be detected in the decoration of the Rosalienkapelle, embellished with wall paintings inspired by Peter Paul Rubens’ designs.

Schlagworte:

The article provides information about a unique database of stuccowork that originated in the Czech Republic during the Renaissance and Mannerist periods between 1550 and 1620 and was created as part of a recently concluded project (https://stuky.upce.cz/). The project’s main goal was a complex processing of this topic, which is undervalued both from the standpoint of monument conservation and artisanal practice. The database of stuccowork was one of the main results of the project, which was intended to create a foundation for a synthetic art history and technological analysis of the development of the art of stucco in our territory and its incorporation into the Central European context. The database collects information from source and literature research, old restoration, and the results of current research. The drawings are supplemented by extensive photo documentation.

Schlagworte:

Husband and wife Josef Matsvanszky (1875–before 1940) and Cäcilie-Marie Matsvanszky (1868–1944?) owned a famous and valuable art collection that was held at Vienna’s Imperial Palace (Wiener Hofburg) from 1922 until 1925. The Matsvanszky Collection comprised more than sixty works of Dutch, Flemish and Italian art produced between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The couple acquired most of their paintings in the Viennese art market during the first quarter of the twentieth century. The impetus to explore the Viennese collection was provided by the letters exchanged in 1940 by Cäcilie-Marie Matsvanszky and the then director of the Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters in Zagreb, Artur Schneider, which are held in the archives of the Strossmayer Gallery. The analysis of various sources and contributions from Theodor von Frimmel seeks to explore the origins of the collection. There is also an attempt to trace the chronology of the acquisitions through the art trade into the collection, and to trace the fate of individual paintings up to the present day.

Schlagworte: