Crossing the room takes you to the Baroque garden. Prince Eugene had the hall decked with gilded stucco and especially on hot summer days lingered in this pleasantly cool place.

During the nineteenth century the room became more and more neglected so that in 1898 it was decided to remove the so called entrelac stucco completely. Nevertheless, remnants of the room’s former glory remained, which were integrated into the reconstruction of the hall for the Prince Eugene Exhibition in 1986.

The Retirade is presently undergoing conservation measures, in cooperation with the Institute of Conservation of the Vienna University of Applied Arts. The small room is decorated with precious scagliola, stucco and gilding. In the course of the centuries it went through numerous reworkings, which also damaged the precious historical objects and surfaces. The ongoing conservation measures are focused on preserving the original substance on the long term but without reconstituting or enhancing the surfaces. The restorers intervene in their work with the utmost sensitivity and retain the vestiges of the past.

Materials

Scagliola is an extremely complicated technique that imitates genuine marble. The materials used are gypsum plaster, glue dissolved in water, and pigments. Constant polishing, working with the spatula and smoothing create a high sheen that can give the impression of real marble. 

The stucco elements stand out three-dimensionally from the surfaces and are embellished with gossamer-thin  gold. This involves laying the gold leaf  on rouged tissue (red clay dissolved in rabbitskin glue). A leaf of gold is thinner than a hair; during the gilding process a single waft of air can ruin everything. Therefore absolute calm is a must for this task.

Harmful damp 

All these materials are vulnerable to damp and moisture, which is why the historical surfaces throughout the palace must not be touched. Every touch thins the gold of the gilding until it gradually becomes transparent and in the end disappears completely. So as to preserve the surfaces for many generations to come it is therefore vital to treat them with the utmost care.