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STUCCOWORK |
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The stuccowork throughout the palace has been preserved in a uniquely complete state. It was crafted by Santino Bussi (1664–1736), who placed his signature on the stuccoed collar of a dog parading a hunting trophy on the ground floor. The interior is undoubtedly one of Vienna’s finest examples of high baroque stucco decor.
The original condition is particularly remarkable in light of the fact that the 18th century stuccowork in nearly all other Viennese buildings was extensively reworked during the 19th century as it no longer met the new representational requirements of Historicism. |
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Santino Bussi ventured from Milan to Vienna in 1694 at the invitation of the Prince of Liechtenstein. At the time, the capital was being swept by a building boom, of which Bussi was able to take maximum advantage. He was the leading stuccoist for palace interiors during the early 18th century. Not only did he complete projects at Liechtenstein City Palace and Garden Palace. His stuccos also graced the Winter Palace and Upper and Lower Belvederes of Prince Eugene, as well as the palaces of the Trautson and Harrach families. The Garden Palace decor was executed immediately after that of the City Palace.
The sculpted decorations reflect the two main themes of the interior paintings. Allegories and mythological scenes depict exempla virtutis — examples of virtuous behaviour — or illustrate princely country life.
In 1704 Bussi concluded a contract for the decoration of the vestibule, which he completed the following year. From 1706 onwards he worked on the stucco in the stairways and on the Piano Nobile. This was followed through to 1708 by the gilt wall decorations of the side walls in the Hercules Hall and the simpler stucco on the second floor. |
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Santino Bussi (1664–1736)
Detail from the stucco ornamentation in the Sala Terrena of the Garden Palace, after 1700 |
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The vestibule and the Sala Terrena |
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The ceilings of the vestibule and the Sala Terrena are given their character by a vaulted system of bays and transverse arches. Rottmayr’s frescos in the bays are flanked by stucco reliefs. The spaces in between are filled by delicate acanthus vines, foliage and leaf tendrils. The arches are decorated with graceful grotesques with putti and various animals or simply just garlands. Wider arches provide space for hunting trophies and small hunting scenes: storks snap at frogs, herons at grapes. Putti and satyrs populate arrangements of twigs and flowers.
The stucco of the Sala Terrena also offers an initial encounter with the theme of Hercules, which is then raised to a monumental level in Andrea Pozzo’s fresco in the Hercules Hall on the Piano Nobile. |
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Stucco ceilings on the first floor
The stucco ceiling decor on the Piano Nobile frames circular and octagonal central frescos. The Grand Gallery with its sweeping, contoured stucco outlines follows the same pattern. For the most part, the corners are occupied by medallions with reliefs. A profiled band, running in angles and round curves, connects these to form a frame around which leafy vines wind and on which festoons are hung. However, the basic designs and shapes are varied slightly in each room, meaning that no ceiling is identical to any other. The medallions contain reliefs of the cardinal virtues, busts of ancient military commanders, personifications of the world’s hemispheres, battling and ransacking centaurs and the triumphal parade of a laurel-wreathed general, followed by the spoils and prisoners of war. In the Grand Gallery, Hercules’ scenes take up the theme of the frescos in the Hercules Hall. |
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Santino Bussi (1664-1736)
Detail from the stucco ornamentation of the Sala Terrena at the Garden Palace, after 1700 |
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Santino Bussi’s delicate vines set the stylistic tone in Vienna around 1700. They were developed from the more robustly formed acanthus ornamentation, which became more and more popular in the German-speaking world from about 1650 onwards. Here, it assumed the form of organically entwining foliage.
Bussi’s vines display very individual forms. Where the motif runs out to the sides, the fleshy stocks are reduced to almost string-like, linear forms, the vividness of the robust leaves disappearing into shallow relief. |
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