Publication details
Pražský hrad v 18. století
| Title in English | Prague Castle in the 18th century |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Chapter of a book |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Another of the chapters of the Imperial Castle section briefly discusses the second of the time periods of Prague Castle's residential character: in the second half of the 18th century, during the reign of Maria Theresa. We can help with identification of this stage by using the motto "through restoration to represent majesty" in the late Baroque era. The royal coronation of Maria Theresa in Prague took place naturally after the danger of the loss of the Czech crown had been extinguished, but at the same time it marked the first significant turning point in the wars of the Austrian succession, which broke out soon after the death of Emperor Charles VI. The second moment was the election and coronation of her husband Francis of Lorraine as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (of the German nation) in September and October of 1745. We can observe the realization of Maria Theresa's architectural idea at Prague Castle mainly in two periods: the first was related to the representation of the "common good" in the relationship between the dynasty and the estate society that supported it (the building of the Teresian Institute of Nobles); the latter then symbolically presented the restoration of royal power and the permanent monument of this power under the rule of the empress-queen. The explanation of the architectural style used in Prague by the architect Nicolao Pacassi could perhaps be connected with character of the architectural task: namely, the construction of a royal residence in connection with the Viennese and imperial, imperial residences. Pacassi did so through the idea of restoration in a double sense of the word. On the one hand, he was restoring the old royal residence at Prague Castle, on the other hand, he was renewing the artistic role of the royal residence in new forms . Pacassi's deeper motive in the Prague Castle project can therefore be "renovatio". Such a "renewal" was certainly also close to Maria Theresa's political thinking. And in the combination of the building tradition within the residential "decor" and the personal monument of the empress, which even today "demands the attention" of today's visitor, we can probably look for the meaning of the reconstruction of Prague Castle and its character, that is: "renovatio" and "representatio Maiestatis". |