Anton Peter van Roy (1683—1738), Portrait of Prince Johann Adam Andreas I von Liechtenstein (1657–1712), c. 1706
HERCULES OF THE ARTS
Johann Adam Andreas I von Liechtenstein and Vienna around 1700
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16.2.2024 – 1.4.2024
Vienna, Liechtenstein Garden Palace
Prince Johann Adam Andreas I von Liechtenstein was one of the foremost patrons of the arts of his time. In Vienna, with his garden palace and city palace, he left two influential monuments that today still bear witness to his sense of identity and rank, and to the magnificence of aristocratic Baroque life. The temporary exhibition HERCULES OF THE ARTS at the Liechtenstein Garden Palace, open from 16 February to 1 April 2024, was devoted to the historical personality of the prince, taking the visitor back to the Vienna of around 1700.
Reigning Prince of the House of Liechtenstein from 1684, Johann Adam Andreas proved his economic acumen by restoring the family finances and reorganizing the administration of the Liechtenstein estates. The success of his reforms led not least to the accumulation of a vast fortune, creating the basis for his patronage and enabling him to build up an important collection of art. For the decoration of his newly built palaces in Vienna he acquired precious paintings by Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck, and commissioned works from Marcantonio Franceschini and the Florentine court artist Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi among other artists. Still forming an important focus of the Princely Collections today, these works were on display at the exhibition along with other acquisitions made by the prince.
It was not only through his passion for the arts that Johann Adam Andreas contributed to the image of the Liechtenstein family that continues to distinguish it today. With the purchases of the lordship of Schellenberg and the county of Vaduz he also laid the foundations for the future Imperial Principality of Liechtenstein.
Numerous construction projects including the Vienna palaces on Bankgasse and in Rossau bear imposing witness to the prince’s interest in architecture, as befitting his rank. Engravings by Salomon Kleiner document the original state and also resurrect buildings that have been lost. One of these was the Belvedere designed by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach that once stood in the park of the Garden Palace and was replaced in the second half of the nineteenth century by the building that still stands today on Alserbachstrasse.
The Garden Palace in particular reveals the prince’s love of the Italian style in architecture. It evokes Roman models that influenced the architects Domenico Egidio Rossi and later on Domenico Martinelli, finding expression in the design of the palace built outside the city walls in the suburb of Rossau. The building itself is a sumptuous synthesis of the visual arts, both inside and out. The eponymous ceiling fresco in the Hercules Hall is the culmination of the interior decoration of the palace: with its depictions of the exploits of the ancient hero against soaring trompe l’oeil architecture it has lost nothing of its power to amaze.
Take a tour of the monumental ceiling fresco in the ceremonial hall of the Liechtenstein Garden Palace. Click on the 11 marked scenes in full-screen mode and zoom in to explore the wealth of detail depicted or start a tour through the painting (start by clicking on "Tours" on the upper left corner after opening full-screen mode).
The great ceiling fresco by Andrea Pozzo in the ceremonial hall of the Liechtenstein Garden Palace shows the exploits and apotheosis of the ancient hero Hercules against imposing trompe l’oeil architecture, giving the hall the name by which it is still known today.
In the decoration of his Viennese palaces Johann Adam Andreas gave preference to Italian artists, including sculptors, stuccateurs and painters such as Giovanni Giuliani, Santino Bussi and Antonio Bellucci. The paintings of mythological subjects by Marcantonio Franceschini were dispatched from Bologna to Vienna. Part of the original decoration of the Garden Palace, a number of them were presented as a group in one room for the duration of the exhibition, allowing them to be appreciated in their impressive size and in the luminous intensity of their colours. Bronzes by Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi, artist to the court of Cosimo III de’ Medici, which were also on display at the exhibition, brought ideas from the art of antiquity and international splendour to Vienna.
Here there was a high degree of rivalry and ambition among collectors of art. Artists from Italy in particular were courted assiduously by aristocratic patrons and collectors. In Vienna they shared a large clientele and were involved in the most important construction and decoration projects, frequently remaining in the city for several months or years, sometimes forever. This had its roots not least in the social and cultural situation in Vienna around 1700. Dynastic connections and service at the imperial court meant that there was traditionally a large Italian community in the city. Developing its greatest influence in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it permeated all levels of society. ‘Italianità’ – Italian language and culture – flourished, shaping the appearance of the city and informing Prince Johann Adam Andreas’s understanding and appreciation of art.
The exhibition devoted a whole room to this close connection between Vienna and Italy in the time around 1700. Beyond this, a total of 170 works from all genres illuminated not only the personality of Prince Johann Adam Andreas, his achievements and most important architectural projects in and outside Vienna, but also his individual passion for collecting, the focus of which lay in both Italian art and Flemish painting. In the rooms of the former Ladies’ Apartments, visitors were able to gain an idea of this wealth of art from the close-packed hanging typical of the Baroque age, while the intimate atmosphere of the Historical Library invited one to discover plans, maps and precious early porcelain from the Vienna Du Paquier manufactory. Also included in the tour of the exhibition were the Great Gallery on the piano nobile and the Hercules Hall with its superb ceiling fresco by Andrea Pozzo.
An exhibition catalogue is available to purchase in German and English (Hirmer Publishers).
The catalogue can be purchased on the Hirmer Publishers website and bookstores as well as at the Hofkellerei shop (open Tuesday to Saturday 12 am–7 pm).
38,– EUR (D) / 39,10 EUR (A)
Catalogues in German accompanying the previous exhibitions of 2022 "THE CONSTANT PRINCE. Joseph Wenzel I von Liechtenstein and his Art" and 2023 "CAST FOR ETERNITY. The Bronzes of the Princes of Liechtenstein" can also be purchased (Brandstätter Verlag).
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