Aristocratic Residences Research Articles

The Role and Activities of Custodians of Aristocratic Collections in Bohemia in the 19th Century and First Half of the 20th Century: Selected Examples


 
 
 In a number of European countries, entrusting the care of the extensive sets of collections owned by aristocrats to a special employee or employees had been customary since the Renaissance. The focus of this study is the period from the beginning of the 19th century to the end of the Second World War. Selected individuals who together represent approximately one hundred and fifty years of care for collections located in aristocratic residences are presented. The academy-trained painter František Horčička, the former town executioner Carl Huss and the husband-and-wife team Wilhelmina and Karl Vincenz Auersperg devoted themselves to collections in the 19th century, while professor Josef Schmoranz and lawyer Josef Polák did so in the first half of the 20th century.
 
 

Antonín Goller, Stephan Tragl, Johann Koch: Méně známí architekti ve službách severočeské a východočeské šlechty ve druhé polovině 19. století

In the second half of the 19th century, many architects worked for noble members of the house of Morzin and subsequently the house of Czernin-Morzin in Vrchlabí and other mansions in North Bohemia. Among these architects, famous names such as Achille Wolf or Josef Schulz can be found; this text, however, concerns itself with these lesserknown, namely Antonín Goller (1833–1880), Stephan Tragl (1845–1891), and Johann Koch (1850–1915). The main objective of this text is to give the most comprehensive view possible of the work and personalities of these three very diverse architects. The oldest of the three, Antonín Goller, was an active member of the Association of Architects and Engineers in the Kingdom of Bohemia and author of numerous conversions of aristocratic residences. Second architect, Stephan Tragl, established a successful architectural studio in Prague-Smíchov in the 1880s and was the author of many impressive buildings, among which excels a group of sacral buildings in neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style. Unlike the previous two, the work of Johann Koch is, for the most part, concentrated abroad in Latvian Riga. Here he was an architect of many highly representative public buildings in Italian neo-Renaissance style and even today is highly appreciated.

Historic hanging partitions: analysis of a relevant application in Palermo

This paper describes historic technical solutions used to suspend lightweight partitions from timber trusses in one of the most relevant aristocratic residences in Palermo. The study examines part of the building, namely a masonry box 24-m long and 10-m wide. This large space, articulated in two storeys, was divided into rooms by lightweight walls and ceilings. The construction analysis of these partitions and the above roof trusses was carried out through an observational study during the recent restoration of the building. The main focus of this paper is a complex system of reinforcements and load-bearing elements – made of timber and wrought iron – used on the second floor to suspend a couple of tiled brick partitions and the related timber vaulted ceiling from the corresponding roof trusses. This solution, realized between the late 19th and early 20th century, employs a series of timber rafters, one timber trussed beam, and three groups of single or paired iron tie-roads. While analyzing the technical details of this system, the study contributes to documenting the use of suspended building components in the historic construction of Sicily.

Palladian Architecture of Denmark in the 17th-18th Centuries

The article examines the progressive line of development and evolution of the Palladian architectural direction in Denmark in the 17th-18th centuries. The article examines the influence of the international Palladian movement, and, in particular, French classicism and Dutch Palladianism. On the example of specific buildings, the chronology of the disclosure of the typology of the classical architectural tradition, the transformation of the order system, various transcriptions of the heritage of A. Palladio are traced. The creative continuity of architectural dynasties and the participation of foreign architects in the formation of the national architecture of Denmark in the designated time are studied. In the context of common European architectural trends, the author considers the distinctive character of the Danish school of architecture. On the example of cult architecture, a typology of the church facade, new for the Scandinavian countries, is revealed with the use of a strict order system. Attention is paid to the new principles of urban planning in Copenhagen, which have influenced the appearance of other Danish cities. Examples of the transmission of the idea of ​​a Palladian villa and palazzo in aristocratic residences of Denmark and in city palaces of the nobility are considered. Summarizing the overview impression of the creative heritage of the Danish Palladians in the conclusion, the article makes a number of general analytical conclusions regarding the exceptional originality of this phenomenon.

Advanced Design and Fabrication of Islamic Tile Ceramic Wall Tiles With Indonesian Batik Patterns Using Artistic CAD/CAM and 3D Printing Technology

The ceramic tile wall is a decorative element used inside restaurants, museums, hotels, aristocratic residences, and places of worship. It plays a critical role in the development of a structure with strong personality and unique qualities by providing relief patterns specific to history or era. The demand for distinctive ornamental wall ceramics that can be mass produced with precision and accuracy has been a challenge for numerous ceramic enterprises in Indonesia, which have historically relied on the skills of artistic professionals in a handmaking process. The purpose of this research was therefore to develop and apply a ceramic tile design process that integrates computer design and fabrication methods with traditional ceramic production techniques. Using the ArtCAM 2015R2 software, photos of batik and Islamic themes were effectively converted into a 2.5D computer-aided design model. Additive manufacturing technology was then used in conjunction with Objet30 Pro 3D printer to precisely produce master molds with Islamic nuances such as puzzle and floral patterns, then conventional ceramic fabrication technology was employed to produce ceramic tiles using these molds. By combining computer-aided design and rapid prototyping technologies, a variety of exact and detailed Islamic decorative ceramic wall tiles were produced with dimensional accuracies within 2.00 mm. Furthermore, the proposed approach demonstrated a 90% reduction in design-to-production time from to 10–12 months to roughly 1–1.5 months.

Post-medieval Pottery in Mazovia and Podlachia (16th–18th Century) – a Preliminary Report

The text is dedicated to the question of traditions and innovations in post-medieval pottery manufactured and used in the territory of today’s Mazovia and Podlachia in Poland. It focuses on the distribution of waregroups in the assemblages from selected sites dated to the mid-16th – late 18th centuries. The list includes both capital cities in the province (Warsaw, Płock) and local towns (Ciechanów, Płońsk, Przasnysz), as well as royal and aristocratic residences, gentry manors and villages. Among the most characteristic features worthy of note are the long lasting of early medieval manufacturing traditions, the widespreaduse of greyware, the relatively small proportion of whiteware and glazed vessels, as well as the sporadic (excluding Warsaw) occurrence of fineware (porcelain, faience). The analysis points to the specificity of Mazovian pottery in 16th–18th centuries, in relation to both other Polish lands and our notions on trends in pottery manufacture and use in the post-medieval period.

Architectural ruins: geoculture of the anatomy of buildings as illustrated by Casa Ippolito, Malta

Ruins are a statement on the building materials used and the construction method employed. Casa Ippolito, now in ruins, is typical of 17th-century Maltese aristocratic country residences. It represents an illustration of secondary or anthropogenic geodiversity. This paper scrutinises these ruins as a primary source in reconstructing the building’s architecture. The methodology involved on-site geographical surveying, including visual inspection and non-invasive tests, a geological survey of the local lithostratigraphy, and examination of notarial deeds and secondary sources to support findings about the building’s history as read from its ruins. An unmanned aerial vehicle was used to digitally record the parlous state of the architectural structure and karsten tubes were used to quantify the surface porosity of the limestone. The results are expressed from four perspectives. The anatomy of Casa Ippolito, as revealed in its ruins, provides a cross-section of its building history and shows two distinct phases in its construction. The tissue of Casa Ippolito—the building elements and materials—speaks of the knowledge of raw materials and their properties among the builders who worked on both phases. The architectural history of Casa Ippolito reveals how it supported its inhabitants’ wellbeing in terms of shelter, water and food. Finally, the ruins in their present state bring to the fore the site’s potential for cultural tourism. This case study aims to show that such ruins are not just geocultural remains of historical built fabric. They are open wounds in the built structure; they underpin the anatomy of the building and support insights into its former dynamics. Ruins offer an essay in material culture and building physics. Architectural ruins of masonry structures are anthropogenic discourse rendered in stone which facilitate not only the reconstruction of spaces but also places for human users; they are a statement on the wellbeing of humanity throughout history.

ON THE LAST WORD “TEI” OF ARISTOCRACY RESIDENCES IN HEIAN AND KAMAKURA PERIODS

In ancient China, there are three meanings for the architectural “Tei” (亭): “Yadori”, “Monomidai”, and “Azumaya”. Among them, “Azumaya” has its usage in Japan, and it seems to originate from China. However, there are unique changes in China and Japan. “Chitei” (池亭) usually refers to a pavilion beside the pond, but it is said that there was also the meaning of a villa or a garden in the Tang Dynasty. In ancient Japan, it sometimes referred to as a residence. The Japanese word “Tei” (亭) has been seen as the last word of the residence name in the middle of the 9th century, and it has been widely used and generalized. I will clarify the actual condition of the last word “Tei” (亭) of aristocratic residences in the Heian and Kamakura period that can be seen in “Hyakurensho” “Azumakagami” and “Kitsuki”. It is essential to compare it with “Tei” (第).

Inhabitants of heritage: the dwellers of an Italian Renaissance palace and their problematic eviction in Ferrara, 1900–1940

AbstractThis article examines the eviction of tenants and squatters from a Renaissance palace in Ferrara, purchased by the Italian state in 1920. The case stands at the crossroads of three processes in European history between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: the social and material ‘decadence’ of aristocratic residences, the birth of ‘national heritage’ and preservation policies and the explosion of the ‘housing problem’, following changes in urban demography and social structure. Considering a large range of sources, the article offers new insight into the conflict between different urban bureaucracies and inside them. It also explores the different forms of agency of working-class dwellers against the background of troubled post-war years followed by the advent of fascism.

Inventing Tourism in the Naval Port: The Case of the Brijuni Islands during the Habsburg Empire

The present paper presents the results of the archival and field research conducted in the framework of the author’s research project ‘Valorisation of the common European heritage of Pula as the former main Austrian naval port and Brijuni Islands as an elite resort’ in Austrian archives, with the focus on the Kupelwieser Collection kept in the Austrian National Library. The research aimed to offer a new perspective in the elaboration of the key initial phases of the development ofmodern tourismon the Brijuni Islands, by analysing their important function as an aristocratic residence near the main naval port in a comparative and transnational framework. The main research question was whether Brijuni followed a European model of development of an aristocratic resort near a major port. Combining archival and field research, the author has explored and compared some of the well-known island aristocratic residences in Europe and theMediterranean,which developed as popular seaside resorts in the 19th and 20th centuries, such as the Isle ofWight, Mallorca, Corfu, and Brijuni. An overview of the available recent theoretical literature provided comparative insights into the search for such a model of the successful symbiosis of resorts and ports. As a case study, the author analysed the development of tourism on the Brijuni Islands in the most dynamic and dramatic periods before, during, and after the First World War, bearing in mind their importance as an elite resort in close proximity to Pula as the former main Austrian (Austro-Hungarian) naval port. Keywords: aristocratic residences, resorts, ports, Brijuni, Pula, tourism history

Johann Adalbert Kratochwill and His Two ‘Indian’ Interiors in Bohemia

ABSTRACTWhile the work of western European lacquer workshops has been described in much detail, the lacquer workshops in central Europe have not been extensively researched. Nevertheless, they, too, reflected the taste for exotic themes and non-traditional techniques imported from the Orient with the same intensity starting in the late seventeenth century, when an increasing number of aristocratic residences in the region were decorated with exotic and iconographical unfamiliar depictions and interiors (featuring imported Oriental pieces or their more readily available copies). They were produced by local artists and craftsmen, who learned to translate motifs from contemporary literature or their own experience using themes from the past. In the same way as neighbouring Saxony had Martin Schnell or Berlin had Gérard Dagly, the territory of Austria had its own peerless lacquer master – Johann Adalbert Kratochwill, who did lacquerware with scenes in the chinoiserie style. In Bohemia Kratochwill was known under the Czech version of his name Jan Vojtěch Kratochvíl or Jan Vojtěch Kratochvíle. In archival sources his surname is sometimes referred to as Cratochwill. His activities are most closely linked with the aristocratic Sachsen-Lauenburg family, namely the Margrave of Baden-Baden, and the family residences in Schlackenwerth (Ostrov nad Ohří) and Rastatt, Germany. Somewhat later, his presence is documented in Vienna and then Prague. In Bohemia, Kratochwill was one of the artists who had a monopoly on exotic decorative elements. In 1712, he obtained an imperial privilege to use varnish paints, which until then had not been used in the Czech Lands. In 1718, he even acquired an imperial patent for a ten-year privilege to paint ‘in the Indian manner’ throughout Austria. His lacquer workshop is also interesting for the fact that it carried on after his death under the management of his widow, the painter Maria Anna Kratochvillin, who headed it for almost twenty years. Kratochwill decorated the Chinese Salon in the palace of prominent nobleman Wenzel Adalbert of Sternberg on the Prague Castle grounds. He drew inspiration from non-European models and emulated the principles of Japanese and Chinese lacquerware imported to Europe by the Dutch East India Company. It has recently been shown that the Oriental Salon in the Sternberg Palace might not have been the only work his workshop did on Bohemian territory. Another newly discovered product of Kratochwill's workshop is the dining hall decoration of the chateau in Zákupy/Reichstadt, North Bohemia. Its connection with this master had not been previously known, but a thorough study reveals a composition similar to that of the panels from the Sternberg Palace in Prague.

Résidences, richesse et aristocraties du haut moyen âge dans le Regnum Langobardorum (VIe-VIIIe siècles) entre sources écrites et donnés archéologiques

In 1994 Chris Wickham pointed out that Italian early medieval archaeological research lacked excavations of aristocratic urban residences that could establish the practical limits of the technologi...

Needs and Attitudes of Visitors to Historic Aristocratic Residences in Poland

Needs and Attitudes of Visitors to Historic Aristocratic Residences in Poland

Ušlechtilé nápoje. Káva, čaj a čokoláda na šlechtických sídlech Čech a Moravy ve druhé polovině 17. a v 18. století na základě výzkumu zámeckých a palácových inventářů

The non-European objects in the interiors of aristocratic residences of the 17th and 18th centuries belong to a little investigated field of interest. For this reason, they provide a vast range of opportunities for researchers. The castle and palace inventories represent one of the possible archival sources that can be used for investigation of exotic objects. These sources allow researchers deeper insights into the mind and intellectual world of the owners and help them to answer questions concerning the exotic objects they had purchased for their castles.This paper is based on an in-depth investigation of eighty inventories on exotic food and delicatessen. The author of the paper describes the rooms in the castles and residences where these beverages were prepared and consumed, the manner, in which they were served, plus the variety of beverages. Furthermore, she focuses on topics such as the matter of representation, the aristocrat's taste in art and world of ideas.

Luxe du cadre de vie et du cadre de mort chez les Celtes de l’âge du fer

The aristocratic residences identified in the Celtic world illustrate the search for luxury living conditions that reflect the prestige of their occupants. While luxury is a relative concept and the buildings we are dealing with are wooden structures, the monumentality of certain constructions and the care taken in their decoration are undeniable. Regarding the interior design of these residences, direct archaeological sources are almost non-existent ; however, indirect sources of iconography (in the art of Situles) and of archaeology (with the development of certain funerary spaces) seem to reproduce luxurious interiors. We therefore can consider whether it is possible to view these funerary devices as a faithful reflection of the actual living conditions, thus raising the question of the status and function of objects deposited in burial sites.

Research on 18th Century Music in Poland. An Introduction

Abstract Research on 18th-century music has been one of the key areas of interest for musicologists ever since the beginnings of musicological studies in Poland. It initially developed along two distinct lines: general music history (with publications mostly in foreign languages) and local history (mostly in Polish). In the last three decades the dominant tendency among Polish researchers has been, however, to relate problems of 18th-century Polish musical culture to the political history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and more generally – to the political history of Central Europe at large. The most important subjects taken up in research on 18th-century music include: the musical cultures of the royal court in 18th-century Warsaw (primarily in the works of Alina Żórawska-Witkowska) as well as Polish aristocratic residences (e.g. studies by Szymon Paczkowski and Irena Bieńkowska), the ecclesiastical and monastic circles (publications by Alina Mądry, Paweł Podejko, Remigiusz Pośpiech and Tomasz Jeż); problems of musical style (texts by Szymon Paczkowski); research on sources containing music by European composers (e.g. by Johann Adolf Hasse); the musical culture of cities (of Gdańsk, first and foremost); studies concerning the transfer of music and music-related materials, the musical centres and peripheries, etc.

Księga autografów zwiedzających pałac w Podhorcach w latach 1923 –1930

Podhorce is one of the greatest aristocratic residences. The owners of the palace were members of the families: Koniecpolscy, Sobiescy, Rzewuscy and Sanguszko. Waclaw Rzewuski (1709-1779) created in Podhorce a huge collection of works of art, he founded an armory, an archive and a library. Whereas Leon Rzewuski (1808-1869) gave museum character to the collection gathered in the palace. After visiting the residence the guests signed in the guest book of the palace. Based on the analysis of the guestbook from the years 1923-1930 it can be concluded that the palace was visited by representatives of different social strata.The largest group were the excursions organized by scholarly institutions (school children, scouts, students). The document includes signatures of the representatives of the polish gentry, distinguished professors, scientists, researchers and senior clerics. The presented book contains about one thousand seven hundred autographs, that had been placed in the book for seven years of its conduct. A significant number of signatures in the document confirms the enormous interest in the Podhorce collection in the twentieth century.

The Catholic Church Towards Palace Chapels in Early Modern Poland

Palace Chapels which used to take part in representational program of the most of the aristocratic residences remain still rather unknown. In Poland researches on this issue are particularly difficult because of the tragic historical events that led to the situation in which there is no original, untouched 18 th century palace as Mariusz Karpowicz has stated. The lack of information on palace chapels in Poland should be then completed in other way. The attitude of the Catholic Church in Poland towards private places of worship, which is a subject of this article, can be regarded as one of the ways to broaden our knowledge about them. The text shows some efforts of the Polish hierarchs since the 17 th till end of the 18 th centuries to limit creating and existing of the chapels which has been presented with the comparison to similar actions of the French bishops.

La casa da nobile et sa valeur: le cas de Milan (XVIe-XIXe siècle)

The Casa da nobile and its Value : the Case of Milano (16th-19th century). The casa da nobile from Milano, erected during the Modern era, provides a model of lodging common to nobles and wealthy merchants seeking social promotion. As part of the Milanese lexicon for real estate, this expression refers to two types of housing : aristocratic residences strictly speaking, but also the dwellings whose architectural characteristics make worth considering their occupation by nobles. This article refers to actual evaluations of a series of casa di nobile real estates, made between the mid of the sixteenth and the end of the nineteenth century, and focuses on the criteria of monetary estimation of those houses. In the long term, it appears that fixing the value of a casa di nobile undergoes an inexorable process of commodification of these goods, which the owners will seek to delay through adopting successive strategies.

La Gemäldegalerie di Dresda. Evoluzione dal Settecento a fine Ottocento

Since its foundation, the Gemaldegalerie (Old Masters Picture Gallery) in Dresden has been considered one of the most magnificent picture galleries in Europe. Not only during the Augustan Age there was a keen interest in the arts, but also a strong understanding of the arts as a means of political power claims. In this context, the Gemaldegalerie was the most representative display of this phenomenon. This article aims to explore the complex role played by the galleries of royal and aristocratic residences in Saxony, concentrating on the Gemaldegalerie between the 18th and 19th centuries as a case study, as well as focusing on its impact on contemporary German literature.