Category Archives: Publications

From a Finding to Interpretation

Zuzana Macurová – Tomáš Valeš (edd.), From a Finding to Interpretation: Connoisseurship, Collecting and Iconography of Early Modern Art, Brno 2019

by Radka Nokkala Miltová

This publication consists of essays by art historians from the Czech Republic and other countries (four contributors are members of the BCPCE). The volume is thematically focused on connoisseurship, collecting and iconography of early modern art. Chapters of the book are characterized by new findings and by innovative applications of novel methodological approaches resulting into innovative interpretations. The intention of the book is to honour 70th anniversary of professor Lubomír Slavíček, who as one of the leading Czech art historians, specializes – although by no means exclusively – on early modern art.  

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Baroque Ceiling Painting in Hungary II

János Jernyei Kiss (ed.), Barokk freskófestészet Magyarországon II. kötet – Baranya, Somogy, Tolna és Zala megye [Baroque Ceiling Painting in Hungary, Vol. II. – Baranya, Somogy, Tolna and Zala Counties], Budapest 2020, 560 pp., ISBN: 9786150092843

Following the first volume of the corpus of Baroque ceiling painting in Hungary, the present handbook, published in 2020, focuses on fifty-one murals located in the Southern Transdanubian counties of present-day Hungary. A part of the four-volume corpus edited by János Jernyei Kiss and published by the Hungarian Academy of Arts in collaboration with the Hungarian Museum of Architecture and Monument Protection Documentation Centre, this lavishly illustrated large-format book presents new research by fifteen authors on several aspects of monumental mural decoration during the 18th century in Hungary.

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Dem Himmel so nah…

Dem Himmel so nah – barocke
Deckenpracht an Europas Höfen

DECKENMALEREI UM 1700 IN EUROPA
HÖFE UND RESIDENZEN
Hg. Stephan Hoppe, Heiko Laß, Herbert Karner

Dem Himmel so nah… PDF

Ob in Nord- oder Südeuropa – zahlreiche barocke Residenzen
zeigen dem Besucher an Decken und Wänden in imposanten
Gemälden Handlungsfelder fürstlicher Regierung und die
Illusion einer besseren Wirklichkeit. Kenntnisreich zeigt der
Band, wie nahezu alle wichtigen Dynastien Europas diese Malerei
als wichtiges Instrument der Selbstdarstellung nutzten.

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Vol. I of the Corpus of Baroque Ceiling Painting in Hungary Published

Barokk freskófestészet Magyarországon, I. kötet: Fejér, Komárom-Esztergom és Veszprém megye [Baroque ceiling painting in Hungary, Vol. I: Fejér, Komárom-Esztergom and Veszprém Countiers], szerk. Jernyei Kiss János, Budapest 2019, 520 p., ISBN: 978-61-05546-436-2

The first volume of the corpus of Baroque ceiling painting in Hungary has been published recently by the MMA publisher in Budapest, in collaboration with the Hungarian Museum of Architecture and Monument Protection Documentation Centre.

The publication is the result of the research project carried out earlier at the Pázmány Péter Catholic University, coordinated by János Jernyei-Kiss who also edited the present volume.

Following the modell of the “Corpus der barocken Deckenmalerei in Deutschland”, the 4 volume series will provide a complete catalogue of Baroque ceiling paintings Hungary.

The first volume is a collective work of 15 authors and catalogues 56 works in the central Transdanubian region of Hungary, that is in the territories of Fejér, Komárom-Esztergom és Veszprém counties.

Continue reading Vol. I of the Corpus of Baroque Ceiling Painting in Hungary Published

In the Name of Wisdom. The Iconography of the Baroque Libraries in Moravia in the 18th Century

Michaela Šeferisová Loudová,  Ve jménu moudrosti. Ikonografie barokních knihoven na Moravě v 18. století [In the Name of Wisdom. The Iconography of the Baroque Libraries in Moravia in the 18th Century], Brno 2019, 501 pp., ISBN: 978-80-7422-663-2

This book is the first monograph on the artistic decoration of Baroque library halls created in the 18th century and still preserved in now days Moravia, namely libraries in the former Canonry of Premonstratensians Hradisko near Olomouc, in the Benedictine Abbey in Rajhrad, in the monastery of Franciscans in Uherské Hradiště, in the monasteries of Minorites and Capuchins in Brno, in the Canonry of Premonstratensians in Nová Říše and in the former Premonstratensian Canonry Louka near Znojmo, where the library no longer exists, but its visual aspect is brought to use in the preserved library of the Premonstratensian Canonry at Strahov in Prague, called the Philosophical Hall, which was created as a replica of the Louka library. These monastic libraries are followed by the only one castle library in the (arch)bishop residence in Kroměříž.

The monograph is primarily focused on the reconstruction of the iconographic programs of the wall paintings in libraries, but also takes into account the style of the paintings, their authorship and last, but not least the iconography and iconology of the whole monastery (respective castle), where library halls are located. The iconographic themes in the Moravian libraries, in some cases decoded for the first time, are presented in the context of decoration of other Baroque monastic libraries in the Czech Republic as well in the Central Europe. Continue reading In the Name of Wisdom. The Iconography of the Baroque Libraries in Moravia in the 18th Century

In the Shadow of Karel Škréta. Prague Painters in 1635–1680


Štěpán Vácha – 
Radka Heisslerová
Ve stínu Karla Škréty. Pražští malíři v letech 1635–1680: Antonín Stevens – Jan Bedřich Hess – Matěj Zimprecht

[In the Shadow of Karel Škréta. Prague Painters in 1635–1680. Anton Stevens – Johann Friedrich Hess – Matthias Zimprecht]

Prague, Academia, 2017; 662 pages, 280 colour photos, hardcover, ISBN 978-80-200-2801-3

In Czech language with an extensive English summary.

Painting in 17th century in Bohemia is generally associated with Karel Škréta (ca. 1610 – 1674) who is considered to be a major protagonist of the new, i.e. Baroque style in the country. Nevertheless, to admit such importance it is necessary to get known also with Škréta’s hitherto underestimated contemporaries active in Prague and Bohemia such as Anton Stevens (ca. 1608 – ca. 1675), Johann Friedrich Hess (ca. 1622 – 1673) and Matthias Zimprecht (1624–1680), born in Munich and 1650s trained in Italy. The recently issued book presents their lives and works, social and professional status, their paintings are discussed in mutual relations and to Škréta’s oeuvre.

Detail of the Ceiling Painting by Anton Stevens in the Sommerhouse of Strahov Monastery, ca. 1661

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Die Fresken von Joseph Mages (1728–1769): Zwischen barocker Frömmigkeit und katholischer Aufklärung

Angelika Dreyer
Die Fresken von Joseph Mages (1728–1769): Zwischen barocker Frömmigkeit und katholischer Aufklärung

Schnell & Steiner Verlag, 312 Seiten, 32 s/w Illustrationen, 52 farb. Illustrationen, Hardcover, ISBN 978-3-7954-3256-0, 76,– €

Joseph Mages (1728–1769) wurde wesentlich vom künstlerischen Umfeld der Augsburger Kunstakademie geprägt. Seine Fresken finden sich u.a. in den schwäbischen Pfarrkirchen von Dasing, Häder und Dillishausen, im elsässischen Benediktinerkloster Ebersmünster und im süddeutschen Raum im Zisterzienserinnenkloster Oberschönenfeld sowie im Birgitten-Doppelkloster von Altomünster. Die umfassende Studie von Angelika Dreyer schließt eine gravierende Lücke in der Erforschung der süddeutschen Barockmalerei. Der Fokus der Auseinandersetzung mit dem Oeuvre von Mages liegt dabei weniger in einer katalogartigen Erfassung und chronologisch-additiven Vorstellung der einzelnen Freskenprogramme. Vielmehr befasst sich das Buch mit der richtungsweisenden Auseinandersetzung der Reformbestrebungen der katholischen Aufklärung und wie sich diese in der Deckenmalerei von Mages niederschlägt.

Joseph Mages, Altomünster, Birgitten-Doppelkloster St. Alto, 1768/1769

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Die Welt im Dienst des Glaubens…

Marion Romberg
Die Welt im Dienst des Glaubens
Erdteilallegorien in Dorfkirchen auf dem Gebiet des Fürstbistums Augsburg im 18. Jahrhundert

628 pp., 125 b/w images, 16 b/w tab., 22 b/w drawings, 11 maps.
hardcover
ISBN 978-3-515-11673-2

 

“There is no such thing as a religious free space!” Richard van Dülmen’s statement at the beginning of the third volume of his book “Kultur und Alltag in der Frühen Neuzeit” is decisive for the answer to the general question of this work, namely “How did the allegories of the four continents come into the village church?”  Originating in the courtly world of the 16th century, the iconography had its peak on the walls and ceilings of Southern German village churches around the middle of the 18th century. A quantitative survey discovered 310 allegories of the four continents in 273 different places in the Southern German region. Every second allegory can be found as part of the visual program of a village church. A remarkable density is encountered in the so-called Erdteilallegoriengürtel covering the area of Upper Swabia, Bavarian Swabia, and Upper and Lower Bavaria. The relevant theoretical model used was the one on cultural exchange processes.

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Angels Castle in Carpathians: Carpoforo Tencalla

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new book by Jozef Medvecký, senior research fellow of the Institute of Art History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. The monograph Anjelský hrad v Karpatoch [Angels Castle in Carpathians] presents results of Jozef Medvecký’s long-time research into the residence of the Count Pálffy family at Červený Kameň (Western Slovakia) and its rich and splendid painterly decoration by Carpoforo Tencella (1623–1685), the famous painter from Bissone (Ticino, Switzerland).

 

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Sala terrena, castle Červený Kameň, Slovakia

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Carpoforo Tencalla, Dancing Nyphs (Muses and Minerva), sala terrena, castle Červený Kameň, 1654-1657

Jozef Medvecký, Anjelský hrad v Karpatoch. Carpoforo Tencalla a ranobaroková výzdoba hradu Červený Kameň [Angels Castle in Carpathians. Carpoforo Tencalla and the Early Baroque Decoration of the castle Červený Kameň], Bratislava 2016

Societas historiae artium & Institute of Art History, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 190 pp.,  ISBN: 9788097030445

 

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Die Wiener Hofburg 1521-1705

Herbert Karner (Hg.), Die Wiener Hofburg 1521-1705. Baugeschichte, Funktion und Etablierung als Kaiserresidenz (Denkschriften der philosophisch-historischen Klasse, Band: 444, Reihe: Veröffentlichungen zur Kunstgeschichte, Band: 13, Reihe: Veröffentlichungen zur Bau- und Funktionsgeschichte der Wiener Hofburg, Herausgegeben von Artur Rosenauer), Band II, Wien 2014

Verlag der ÖAW, 625 S., mit zahlr. Farb- u. sw-Abb., ISBN13: 978-3-7001-7657-2

 

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Band II der fünfbändigen Publikationsreihe zur Bau- und Funktionsgeschichte der Wiener Hofburg analysiert deren Entwicklung zur zentralen mitteleuropäischen Kaiserresidenz von Ferdinand I. bis einschließlich Leopold I. Die Neuschreibung der facettenreichen Bau- und Funktionsgeschichte der kontinuierlich sich vergrößernden Residenz wird begleitet von Untersuchungen zu den Repräsentationspraktiken der Habsburger. Continue reading Die Wiener Hofburg 1521-1705

Kosmos Barock

Werner Telesko, Kosmos Barock. Architektur – Ausstattung – Spiritualität. Die Stiftskirche Melk, Wien 2013

Böhlau, 215 S., ISBN: 978-3-205-78953-6

9783205789536

 

Die Fülle der künstlerischen und inhaltlichen Facetten einer barocken Kirche scheint für den heutigen Betrachter kaum mehr verständlich. Die vorliegende, leicht verständliche Einführung soll als Anleitung dienen, den vielfältigen „Kosmos“ eines barocken Kirchenbaus besser verstehen zu können. Continue reading Kosmos Barock