Tadeáš Kadlec

The House in the Garden of Hermann Jakob Czernin von Chudenitz, formerly in Leopoldstadt, Vienna

The construction of the house in the garden of Count Hermann Jakob Czernin von Chudenitz in Leopoldstadt, a suburb of Vienna, is one of the most important works of the builder Giovanni Battista Maderna. Neither the Czernin Garden nor the house built in it have survived. However, the form of the residential building — or rather the various stages of its gradual creation — is detailed in a large collection of Maderna’s building plans preserved in the Czernin family archive (the Jindřichův Hradec State District Archive). Up till now, Czernin’s garden house has not been scrutinised in detail by researchers, and only a small number of Maderna’s drawing was published in the past. A detailed presentation of these drawings is one of the objectives of this study. The now-vanished building can be placed within the context of civil engineering in Bohemia at that time. It seems that the builder took as his model the work of Jean Baptiste Mathey, above all the Château of Václav Vojtěch of Šternberk in Prague’s Troja. Maderna’s building can thus be deemed a unique case of a “Bohemian” import in Vienna and its immediate environs. The builder himself, who was repeatedly in touch with Mathey at that time regarding other matters, may have had a hand in the choice of model. It seems that the young Count Czernin, following in the footsteps of his father, the builder of the Czernin Palace in the Hradčany district of Prague, was a connoisseur of architecture. His particular contribution to the appearance of his suburban residence is revealed by several of the surviving documents. Correspondence relating to the construction of the building in the garden in Leopoldstadt reveals the extent of Czernin’s input into Maderna’s creative endeavours during the course of construction work. It is remarkable that the Count, clearly determined to achieve the best outcome, even held consultations regarding Maderna’s drawings with Ferdinand de’ Medici, Crown Prince of Tuscany, whose acquaintance he had made during a Grand Tour undertaken shortly before.

Author's email:

kadlec@udu.cas.cz

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54759/ART-2024-0204

Full-text in the Digital Library of the Czech Academy of Sciences:
https://kramerius.lib.cas.cz/uuid/uuid:bfac8b2f-34a3-4115-8a97-760a04944b09

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