Imperial Residence Research Articles

Архитектура аннинского времени: рождение образа империи

The article is devoted to the problems of the Russian architecture of the 1730s, the era of Empress Anna Ioannovna’s reign. That period has not attracted much attention of researchers until recently, the reasons being poor preservation of the monuments of the 1730s and the lack of notable achievements, especially compared with the magnificent architecture of the Elizabeth’s 20-yearlong reign. In recent historical research, both the years of Empress Anna Ioannovna’s rule in the history of Russia of the 18th century and the figure of the Empress herself have undergone a noticeable revision. Anna’s decade appears to have been a period of stabilization and consolidation of the country’s transformations that took place during Peter the Great’s time. Research into the architecture of that time show that it was under Empress Anna Ioannovna that Petersburg acquired the characteristics of a capital city and began to be considered an imperial residence. In the 1730s, the most significant buildings initiated by Peter the Great were completed: the building of the Twelve Collegia, the Kunstkamera, and the Peter and Paul Cathedral. The new construction of palaces and public buildings over that time, as well as the transfer of former palace buildings to a number of institutions, testified to the desire for a visual articulation of the ruling elite. The article attempts to re-examine the indifference towards the architectural achievements of the period under consideration and suggests taking a closer look at it.

«Колодец с горгульей» и принцип гиперцитации в архитектуре Ливадийского дворца

The article is devoted to studying the circumstances that served as the basis for the quotation of the original composition installed during the restoration of the Vincigliata Castle near Florence (1860s) in the sculpture A Well with a Gargoyle in the Livadia Palace. A comparative analysis of the copy and the original leads to the problem of hyperquotation in the work on the project of the imperial residence in the Crimea (1909–1914). For the first time, the article publishes the photographs of the historical courtyard of the Vincigliata sculptures from the State Historical Museum funds (Moscow) and the view of the Livadia well from the architect N.P. Krasnov’s author album from the funds of the Research Library under Russian Academy of Arts (Saint‐Petersburg).

The "Column of the Goths" and Its Place in Constantine's New Capital

Abstract: The column monument in Istanbul's Gülhane Park, commonly known by its colloquial name "column of the Goths," bears a well-known inscription on its pedestal which states that this monument was dedicated to Fortuna Redux on the occasion of a Roman victory over the Goths. The monument, however, has not attracted much scholarly attention, probably because no consensus has yet been reached regarding its date. An inspection of the inscription in Gülhane Park and a fresh analysis of its text suggest that the emperor Constantine erected the "column of the Goths" in the context of the formal dedication of his new capital in 330 as a memorial for his victory over the Goths in 328 or 329. The monument highlights Constantinople's extraordinary political nature as more than just another imperial residence in the style of the tetrarchy. It bears witness to the emperor's efforts to give Constantinople the status of a second Rome as well as his determination, above all else, to establish his city as the home of triumphant victories. Moreover, the monument's dedication to Fortuna Redux, is another token of Constantine's at least partially ambiguous religious policy, which allowed traditional symbols to be visible in his new capital of Constantinople.

14C DATING OF HISTORICAL JAPANESE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT SACKS

ABSTRACT The radiocarbon (14C) dating method was applied to a survey of treasured items related to the ruins of the Imperial Residence in Anou, Nara Prefecture, which was one of the capitals of Japan during the 14th century. In this work, we dated two storage bags for Japanese musical instruments that are believed to be from the period of Emperor Go-Daigo who established the Southern Court. The 14C dating of these treasures proved that the musical instrument sacks are contemporaneous with the dating of the Imperial Residence ruins designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. In addition, there are limited surviving examples of silk fabrics from the Middle Ages compared to the Ancient and Early Modern periods, making this a valuable resource in the history of silk fabrics in Japan.

An Emperor Travels around the Russian Empire Outskirts in the 1880s: As According to V.S. Obolenskii’s Diary

Based on the materials from a previously unpublished source - the diary of Prince V.S. Obolenskii-Neledinskii-Meletskii, preserved in the Department of Written Sources of the State Historical Museum, the authors in their article consider the travels of Alexander III through the outlying territories of the Russian Empire in 1882-1888. The diary contains not only many details from the life of the imperial family and the court, but also information on the organization of official and unofficial trips of the emperor, which made it possible to trace the changes that took place in the ceremonial practice and the influence of modernization processes on the goals of the emperor's travels. There is presented through new information on the official visits of Alexander III to Poland (1884, 1886), Finland (1885), the Province of the Don Cossack Host (1887), Ukraine (1885) and the Caucasus (1888), as well as on private vacation trips to the Finnish skerries, the Principality of Łowicz and Livadia. The author shows that as inspection and study trips around Russia became a thing of the past, as ceremonial events came to the fore. The travels of Alexander III, continuing the line traced under Alexander II, were intended to establish a positive image of the monarch and emphasize the connection with his subjects. In the 1880s, visits to remote imperial residences for the purpose of recreation and entertainment became a regular occurrence, events which should be considered as an important part of the daily life of the imperial family.

Staging Oriental Delegations at the Habsburg Imperial Court in Prague (1600-1610)

Between 1600 and 1610-in the time when Prague was an imperial seat of Rudolph II of Habsburg -the city experienced an unusual viewing of several festive entries of foreigner legacies. In 1600, 1604 and 1609 three Persian delegations reached the Prague court in an attempt to coordinate military actions against the Ottomans. This gave an opportunity for a staged presentation of the court and city to the exotically-looking visitors. In return, Prague citizens, and particularly the nobles and the officials, had several opportunities to view, encounter and entertain the members of the legacies, who took an active part in Prague life. Their engagement sprung a number of textual and visual documents that testify to the interest of the European artists. The mixture of elements of the European festive culture merged with splendour, exotic garments and gifts of the oriental Islamic culture gave these meetings a particular character that reaffirmed the status of Prague as the imperial residence and capital city. The embassies’ adventi and receptions were an opportunity for festive trains moving through the urban and court space of Prague, with the routes and design of stops, landmarks, and architecture used as their symbolical framing.

"Official" and "private" parks of the XVIII–XIX centuries through the prism of general landscape trends of the time

The article analyzes the basic principles of landscape design of the imperial and aristocratic parks in the Russian Empire in the XVIII–XIX centuries. There were "official" parks designed to be visited by high-ranking guests, and "private" parks, which were not covered by the canons of the "official" park. In the Tsarskoye Selo imperial residence Catherine's Park performed the function of "official" with the appropriate function of pomp, and located next to it Alexander's Park –respectively, the function of "private" imperial park. Catherine's Park became a model to follow one of the mostfamous parks in modern Ukraine –Oleksandriia Park in the city of Bila Tserkva. The common and different between Tsarskoye Selo park residence and aristocratic parks in Ukraine are analyzed, the principles of planning of these parks and the main constituent elements are compared. Based on this, the basic principles of planning parks of the Classicism and Empire style era in Ukraine and the "iconic" set of pavilions are determined. The general canons of the "Ossian Park" and their specific embodiment are analyzed on the example of Sofiivka Park in Uman. It was determined that the "Ossian Park" based on the canons is opposite to the parks of Classicism-Empire style.The methods of historical and culturological analysis, method of comparative analysis, method of field surveys used.

Preservation of historical document or aesthetic value? Mualla Eyüboğlu’s Topkapı Palace Harem restorations in the 1960s

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the Chamber of Crown Princes (Veliaht Dairesi) located in the residential part (Harem) of the Topkapı Palace, the Ottoman imperial seat in Istanbul (Turkey), where the removal of later additions was discussed during its restoration in the 1960s. Based on the archival documents of Mualla Eyüboğlu, the architect responsible for the restoration of the Topkapı Palace between 1961 and 1969, and the resolutions of the High Board of Antiquities and Monuments, this study reveals a stimulating debate on the balancing of the preservation of historic document value versus aesthetic value. Ambitious to present the building in its original function and use of the space as a part of the imperial residence, Eyüboğlu decided to liberate the original building of all the later additions and tried to reinstate the building to its initial seventeenth-century state. The removal of historical layers was disapproved by some of her contemporaries, while others appreciated her aesthetic concern. The case is reviewed at a broader scale, opening up to and integrating similar discussions in European preservation theory in the 1960s.

On the toponymics of the Great Palace of Constantinople: the Daphne

Abstract The Great Palace of Constantinople has been subject to several investigations since the second half of the nineteenth century. All of them have been mostly concerned with the topographical, architectural and typological development of the imperial residence, leaving aside questions such as toponymics. This paper will deal with this issue taking into consideration the name of the complex of buildings that once was the core of the Constantinian Palace, the Daphne. Doing so, we will better understand the denomination of the Palace, and shed light on the functions related to several spaces, the courtly ritual and, in short, the representation of power through architecture in an imperial context. Besides, the present enquiry will challenge some topographical assumptions on the complex.

Scenting the imperial residence: objects from the Topkapı Palace Museum collections

ABSTRACT Following every major meal in the Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, the sultan was incensed with amber and aloewood, and every evening, an amber-and-aloewood-scented candle perfumed his bedroom, according to page-boy Albert Bobovi’s seventeenth-century account of everyday life. Talikizade’s Şehname (ca. 1596–1600) shows Süleyman the Magnificent seated with his son in his library, next to a censer emitting tendrils of smoke. Approximately sixty such censers are preserved in the Topkapı Palace Museum today. Taking as a vantage point this rich textual, pictorial and material evidence, this essay examines olfactory practices and objects employed in the imperial residence. Against the background of the Topkapı Palace’s sensescape and Islamic and Ottoman traditions in general, we discuss the prominent examples of five incense burners and three rosewater sprinklers of varying material and date, in order to arrive at conclusions about the objects’ form, function, and symbolic role in contributing to cleanliness, sacrality, as well as imperial and elite culture.

신덴즈쿠리(寢殿造) 배치 및 형상에 대한 발생학적 논의

Purpose: Shindenzukuri is one of the prototypes of Japanese residential architecture, a style of aristocratic houses of the Heian period. Its importance is emphasized in various aspects such as connection with Buddhist temples influenced by China and the imperial residence, Dairi affected by Tang Dynasty, reflection of Japanese culture that advocated breaking away from Chinese culture at the time, and relation with Shoinzukuri which is the prototype of Japanese architecture today. It reflects the social class order of the Heian period at the time, as well as the Japanese sentiment and aesthetics. It is very meaningful to explore the roots of today

Projects for Ferme Ornée on the Island of Lokrum by Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Habsburg

This research deals with projects for a residence on the island of Lokrum by Archduke Maximilian I of Habsburg (1832-1867). In the short period of owning the island (1859-1867), Maximilian ordered three different designs for Lokrum. The subject of research in this paper is the first phase of the project, dating from 1860 to 1866, when the general plan of the island, Maximilian’s residence, farm building and court chapel were designed. The research is based on an analysis of primary archival sources while the contemporary models for the project have been found through literature review. Twenty archival drafts have been described textually and graphically published. Maximilian actively participated in the planning and design process, but the author of the projects was Thomas Friedrich. After the general plan of the island from 1860 came sixteen preserved plans of Maximilian’s residence, which are with this research dated to the period from 1862 to 1864. The drafts for the farm building, court chapel and altar date back to the period from 1864 to 1866. Although in terms of architecture it was only partially built (only the landscape part of the project was executed), the Lokrum project from 1860 to 1866 shows Maximilian’s original idea of the island before the later grandiose plans of transformation into an imperial residence.

Rome, Italy. The brickstamps of the Domus Tiberiana from the Archive of Clemens Krause. Season 2020

This article presents the results of two short scholarships on the important collection of brick stamps collected by Professor Clemens Krause (University of Fribourg, Switzerland) and his team during their study of the Domus Tiberiana between 1981 and 1987. The work stands in line with the research carried out by Ulrike Wulf-Rheidt and Evelyne Bukowiecki on the brick stamps of other imperial residences of the Palatine in the framework of the »Palatin-Projekt«. By entrusting his archive to the authors, Krause intended to make the most of this unpublished collection. This preliminary study should thus be interpreted as a first step towards making these data available for further research on brick stamps as indicators of the supply dynamics of building sites and construction processes in imperial Rome.

PORTRETI CARA KARLA IV U KARLŠTEJNU

The portraits of Emperor Charles IV testify to his patrons activities, rul- ing ideology and private piety. The focus of the paper is the portraits of the Emperor created in the second half of the 14th century in his fortified imperial residence, Karlštejn near Prague. There are six portraits of the Emperor and one crypto por- trait in Karlštejn. Within the genealogy of the Luxembourg dynasty, the genealogy of the Přemyslid dynasty, in the scene of transfer of Passion relics in the Chapel of the Mother of God, with the Mother of God and Christ in the chapel of St. Catherine and above the portal of the chapel. Then, Charles IV is presented in the room where the steps leading to the Chapel of the Holy Cross are located, within the cycle of St. Wenceslaus. In the very chapel of the Holy Cross, in the scene of the Adoration of the Three Kings, in the image of the third, a crypto-portrait of the Emperor is recognized. Through these portraits, Charles IV built his ruling identity by presenting himself as the new Constantine, the new Charlemagne, but also the successor of St. Wenceslaus.

Mystery and history: when did Catherine the Great purchase the Lyde Browne collection?

Abstract Documents preserved in the Russian State Historical Archives shed light on the acquisition by Empress Catherine II of the renowned collection of classical sculpture assembled by the antiquary Lyde Browne (d. 1787) – its purchase, arrival and first display in the pavilions of the imperial summer residence in Tsarskoe Selo near St Petersburg. The date for the sale, once assumed to have been 1787, is most widely accepted as 1785, or, as recently suggested, 1784. In fact, there are two dates – 1783 and 1784 – as established by Catherine’s payments (a total sum equivalent to £22,630) for the sculptures as delivered. The archival lists show considerably more items than does the catalogue of Browne’s collection from 1779, while the dispersal of Catherine’s collection of antiquities by her son, Paul I, a partial export to Poland, the formation of the Imperial Hermitage Museum, and later events all contribute to the complex history of the Lyde Browne sculptures in Russia.

The Taizicheng city site of the Jin dynasty in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province

Abstract In 2017 to 2018, Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and other institutions excavated the Taizicheng city site. Assisted by coring, the fieldwork confirmed that there were 67 building foundations, 14 roads, and two drainage ditches in this city site; the foundation of the No. 9 building in the center of the south zone and the courtyard No. 3 in the center of the north zone formed a tandem arrangement of “qian chao hou qin” [in front, audience hall; behind, resting chambers] along a symmetrical axis. In the unearthed artifacts, there are large numbers of bricks with stamps of “nei,” “gong,” and “guan,” white-glazed Ding wares with an inscription “shang shi ju,” fragments of chiwen-dragon heads on the main ridge, etc. Seen from the ranks of the artifacts and architectural sites, this city site would be the remains of an imperial residence of the mid through late Jin dynasty, which might be the Taihe Palace for Emperor Zhangzong of the Jin dynasty to hold summer nabo-imperial encampment. The excavation of the Taizicheng city site greatly improves the studies on the site selection of imperial encampments, construction regulations, utensil assemblage for the use of imperial courts, etc. of the Jin dynasty.

ЭТАПЫ ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ (1710-1917) И ПРЕОБРАЗОВАНИЯ (1918 – НАСТОЯЩЕЕ ВРЕМЯ) АРХИТЕКТУРНОГО ЛАНДШАФТА ДВОРЦОВО-ПАРКОВОГО АНСАМБЛЯ ЦАРСКОГО СЕЛА

the article specifies the stages of the architectural landscape formation of the Tsarskoye Selo palaces and parks ensemble; the addition features of the Catherine, Alexander and Babolovsky parks and their transformation phases. The chronological period of the formation of the ensemble was completed in 1917, and after the October Revolution, the suburban imperial residence changed its functional purpose and status absolutely. The feature of the architectural landscape exploring in this article is that the style-forming objects of the volume-spatial composition are palaces and pavilions; the environment-forming objects are landscape gardening art. During all the history of the ensemble formation, all subsequent changes, despite of the variety of styles, supplemented and evolved the scenario specified in the first stage. The current stage of restoration and revitalization of the planning structure and volumetric-spatial composition and the evolution of its conservation methods was considered and analysed.

Wasser im spätantiken Trier – neue Einblicke

Already in the first two centuries AD, two aqueducts supplied Augusta Treverorum, and especially the huge Barbarathermen. In the early 4th century when Trier became an imperial residence, a large-scale building program was initiated, which concurrently affected the city’s water distribution system. The connection of the main sewer of the Kaiserthermen (which were never finished) with the older sewer canal in street no. 8 was discovered in 2010. In keeping with most of the other late antique canals, the walls were constructed of brick, the production of some can be traced to late antique brick factories. Most of the “new” sewer canals were found in the area of the imperial palace, for example the canals at Schützenstraße, where the Roman circus is presumed to have been located. In the second half of the 4th century, a new aqueduct bridge was built along the present-day Olewiger Straße, which probably constituted the “new” ending of the older Ruwer aqueduct. In a reused building near the forum, a new bath building (the Viehmartthermen) was installed. The main sewer canal of these baths was lined with waterproof mortar, as was standard for water supply canals. Further evidence for water constructions in late antique Trier include more than a dozen small bathhouses as well as a splendid fountain found during excavations in the 19th century on the other side of the Mosel River. Sumptuous water display came to an end in the 5th century when the Romans no longer occupied the region.

Museum Director: Job, Profession, or…? A Hundred-Year Long Experience of Directorship at the Peterhof State Museum-Reserve

When studying the history of museum work, modern cultural scholars have not paid enough attention to the issues of museum management, which are of great importance for every museum. The museum consisting of the palaces and parks of Peterhof, established after the nationalization of the imperial residence in 1918, were initially headed by a curator and later by a director. The director determined museum policy, organized scientific, conservation, financial and economic work, and maintained contacts with government officials. In the early stages of the museum’s development, the director’s responsibilities included organization of educational work, inventory of palace collections, and preservation of architectural monuments. Later on, the area of responsibilities expanded and changed to keep up with the historical process. Workers of culture and people with a more democratic background held the director’s position. Numerous Party bureaucrats later gained the position, and during the last stage historians with a special education served as directors. Having gone through the transformation of palaces and museums into “museums of noble life”, the conversion of historical landscapes into parks of “culture and recreation”, through the tragedy of political repressions and wartime evacuation, through the difficulties of the post-war revival of the complex and many other things, the directors of the Peterhof museum created an amazing historical and cultural phenomenon known all over the world today.

The destruction and rediscovery of Edo Castle: ‘picturesque ruins’, ‘war ruins’

Castles were an important symbol of the Tokugawa state order, signifying the realm of daimyo as well as the privileges conferred by the Tokugawa shoguns. Edo Castle was the largest, representing the supremacy of the Tokugawa house as the head of the warrior elite of Japan. After 1868, the progress of the Meiji Emperor into the castle amounted to a ‘metaphor of action’ that introduced a new political era. The remnants of the old castle walls, however, retained an ambivalent meaning by circumscribing the imperial residence as well as being an emblem of the former stronghold of the shoguns. This article explores photographs of the ruins of Edo Castle and the shifting interpretations pertaining to these pictures as reminders of Japan’s ‘feudal’ era between the time of their making in the early 1870s and their republication in the late 1920s.