Publication details
Pražský hrad v 17. století
| Title in English | Prague Castle in the 17th century |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Chapter of a book |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The introductory chapter of the Imperial Castle section discusses the first of two time periods in which the residential, imperial character of Prague Castle was emphasized: first it was at the beginning of the 17th century during the reign of Rudolph II. and then in the second half of the 18th century, during the reign of Maria Theresa. In a more concrete identification of the first stage in the pre-Baroque period, we can help ourselves by using the emblematic motto: "artistic competition to achieve reasonable comfort". The first part of the chapter, "aemulatio" and "commoditas", looks for what remains of the reign of Rudolph II. Apparently, it was primarily the creation of a new palace core in the area of today's second courtyard and its connection – unfinished, but still completely newly established – with the Royal Garden in the northern focus of the castle complex. The architecture of this complex was seemingly simple, accentuated only by a few distinct architectural motifs that determined the movement of courtiers and visitors in the area: entrance gate - upper part of the Mathematical Tower - Spanish Hall - northern gate to the Royal Garden. Visually significant, however, was undoubtedly a certain purist simplicity of the facades of the newly built masses in the sense of a certain distinctive and perhaps even iconographic sign. In this stylistic focus, Prague Castle played an important role, even though its residential architecture actually remained an unfinished torso. In the second part, Baroque interlude: from the new empress's wing to the grand festivities, we get to the building realizations during the Baroque period. In particular, two large, Baroque ephemeral celebrations represented a significant part of the form of Central European Baroque culture. In the then somewhat old-fashioned architectural form of the inner Prague Castle, contemporary stylistic modernization was carried out through ephemeral high-baroque decoration. Was it possible to realize such a similar connection of majesty and high monarchical ideas in a union with realistically constructed contemporary architecture? This was attempted less than thirty years later by the Czech Queen and Empress Maria Theresa. |