It requires a multitude of protagonists to bring a Baroque garden into being. Several of them occupy key positions. At the centre are the commissioning patrons, mainly from the Imperial House, the aristocracy or the higher clergy. Refined through instructional books and familiarity with fashionable trends, their personal taste flows into the garden design and planning. And of course, they have to avail of the necessary financial scope.
The link connecting all the actors in the project is the architect. He not only supplies designs for the overall plan but is also the interface between all participants, so to speak the project manager. Acting in close association with him are specialists such as surveyors, experts in hydraulic engineering, in fountain construction, and sculptors. “Garden engineers” supply the detailed plans.
The actual work is done by a legion of artisans and an anonymous army of day labourers and assistants. They move tons of earth and lay out terraces, paths and fountains. Also the tasks of planting and tending the plants are – quite literally – in their hands. In short: it is they who shoulder the brunt of the physical work, which is extremely demanding.
Left wall
Members of the family of the Barons of Khevenhüller in front of a decorative garden
illustration (gouache) from the Khevenhüller family chronicle, c. 1625 (reproduction)
This page from the Khevenhüller family chronicle shows the children of the aristocratic family in front of their garden at Schloss Wernberg near Villach, noted as the most opulent section of the Khevenhüller palace garden. It is thus no coincidence that the family is posing in front of this very garden.
MAK – Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst, Inv.Nr. IN 21. 608
Markus Sittikus von Hohenems posing before a view of the Hellbrunn garden
oil painting, Donato Arsenio Mascagni, 1619, detail (reproduction)
The portrait of the Salzburg archbishop is a prime example of the prestigious portrayal of a commissioning patron with his “garden paradise”. With great pride, Markus Sittikus presents not only his cathedral project but also the pleasure garden of Hellbrunn.
Schloss Hellbrunn, Salzburg
Prince Eugene of Savoy
oil on metal in wooden frame, Jacob van Schuppen (workshop), post-1718
Prince Eugene was one of the most foremost commissioning patrons of illustrious gardens. For him, the ensembles were not only a matter of prestige but also demonstrated a genuine interest in the creative treatment of nature. Books on botany and garden planning form a major part of his library.
How apt indeed was the remark made by a friend of the prince as regards the virtually unlimited expenditure Eugen invested in order to bring such garden paradises into being: “another thing about Prince Eugene is his ever bottomless purse”.
Schloß Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H., Inv.Nr. SKB 008603
Friedrich Carl Count Schönborn
oil painting, Johann Kupetzky, 1st half 18th C. (reproduction)
The Imperial Vice Chancellor and later Prince Archbishop of Bamberg and Würzburg Friedrich Carl Count Schönborn (1674–1746) was an ideally matched companion for Prince Eugene. They recommended artists and artisans to each other, and each informed the other of his own building projects and extended invitations to hunts and conversation circles. Besides a summer palace in the Viennese suburb of Josefstadt, he owned an extensive country estate with a large garden near Göllersdorf. When the carnations were in their full, glorious bloom in the Schönborn garden and the orange trees were thriving in all their splendour, he wrote proudly to his Savoyan friend about everything.
Private Collection, permanent loan to LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz−Vienna, Inv.Nr. G 126
Aloys Thomas Raimund Count Harrach, Viceroy of Naples
oil painting, Francesco Solimena, 1730
Harrach (1669–1742) was one of the foremost architecture patrons of his era. Among his commissions were the remodelling of Schloss Prugg – the family’s ancestral seat in the town of Bruck an der Leitha – and the summer palace in the Viennese suburb of Landstrasse, both of which boast spectacular garden ensembles.
Graf Harrach’sche Familiensammlung, Inv.Nr. W.F. 215
Maria Theresa with a view of Schönbrunn Garden
oil painting, Anton von Maron, 1773 (reproduction)
One of the leading commissioning patrons of imposing gardens was doubtlessly the Imperial House, first and foremost Maria Theresa and her consort Emperor Francis Stephen I. Accordingly, as of 1743, Maria Theresa ordered a remodelling and extensive enlargement not only of Schönbrunn Palace but also the garden. She gave the royal residence the basic appearance it still has today.
Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Gemäldegalerie, Inv.Nr. GG 6201
Ground plan and elevation of a treillage pavilion in the Privy Garden of Schönbrunn
pen and ink drawing, 18th C.
Schloß Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H., Inv.Nr. GA 581 S HP
Le château de Versailles
Coloured view of the Palace of Versailles after Gabriel Perelle, from: Veues des belles maisons de France, Paris, c. 1730
The model throughout Europe for practically all Baroque palatial ensembles with a regular and hierarchically structured Baroque garden is Versailles. In 1661, King Louis XIV commissioned the famous horticultural artist André Le Notre (1613–1700) to plan garden and park.
Schloß Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H., Inv.Nr. SKB 006699
Window wall
Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt
oil painting, Jacob van Schuppen, c. 1720 (reproduction)
The extremely self-assured architect Hildebrandt (1668–1745) – who, according to the words of Aloys Thomas Raimund Count Harrach, could be “as stubborn as a coach horse” – planned many garden ensembles as chief architect. His assignment here was to plan and implement the basic arrangement of a garden complex. As project manager, he was the one to pull all the threads together. Alongside the garden architect Anton Zimmer, he realised several garden projects in Lower Austria, most particularly Schloss Bruck and Schloss Hof.
Zamek Królewski na Wawelu – Państwowe Zbiory Sztuki/ Wawel Royal Castle National Art Collection Krakow, Inv.Nr. 943
Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg
Detail from the painting “Aktsaal der Wiener Akademie”, Martin Ferdinand Quadal/Chvátal, 1787 (reproduction)
Here dressed in red, the court architect Hetzendorf von Hohenberg (1733–1816) worked for the Imperial House in Schönbrunn, Hetzendorf and Laxenburg. As of 1765, he joined forces with Adrian van Steckhofen and remodelled Schönbrunn Garden. Among other activities he was in charge of building the Gloriette in Schönbrunn.
Gemäldegalerie der Akademie der Bildenden Künste Wien, Inv.Nr. 100
Antoine-Joseph Dezailler d’ Argenville: La Théorie et la Pratique du Jardinage
Paris, 1713
This work of d’Argenville (1680–1765) was a “must-have” in the eighteenth century for all those engaged in horticulture. The horticulturalist describes the philosophy of a Baroque garden, gives instructions and describes technical and botanical details for practical implementation. Because of its fundamental significance and renown throughout Europe, the book is regarded as the “bible” of Baroque horticultural art.
Private Collection
Roger Schabol: La Pratique du Jardinage
Paris, 1782
This book on horticultural practice also includes a chapter on the “enemies of trees and remedies for destroying them”.
Private Collection
Raccolta della città di Roma – Collection of views of Roman villas and gardens
The role model effect of Italian Renaissance gardens resonated north of the Alps well into the Baroque period. During their training, both architects and garden engineers schooled their eyes by studying southern gardens. Veduta collections such as the one displayed here could be found in practically every aristocratic or monastic library, thus providing inspiration for commissioning patrons, too, when planning their gardens.
Stift St. Paul im Lavanttal, Kunstsammlungen
Right wall
Dedication sheet for Joseph I with a collection of garden plans by Georg Hätzl
engraving, Jacob Müller and Jeremias Wolff after a template by Georg Hätzl, c. 1700 (reproduction)
Active since 1700 as “Hoff= Kunst= u. Lust gartner zu Schönbrun” (Court Artistic and Decorative Gardener for Schönbrunn), Georg Hätzl produced three works of engravings with reference sheets for planning garden sections. The title engraving dedicated to Joseph I shows architects and surveyors as planners in the foreground at left, and at right a gardener with a basket of fruit performing his tasks.
Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Inv.Nr. Nic.S.85
Gardener’s apprenticeship certificate by Johann Paul Baumann
pen and ink on parchment, with signature of Anton Zinner, dated 1 January 1736
During their sojourns abroad, gardeners came in contact with the latest horticultural trends. Completion of an apprenticeship was crowned with a richly decorated certificate. Here, Anton Zinner, garden inspector of Prince Eugene, confirms that Baumann, a native of Vienna, has worked in the Schloss Hof garden for fifteen months.
Schloß Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H., Inv.Nr. SKB 008012
Adrian van Steckhoven
bust, gypsum, painted brown, 18th C. (?)
This bust is the sole known portrayal of a chief gardener in the area of Vienna. Steckhoven (1705–1782), a Dutchman, modernised Schönbrunn Palace Garden. Among other things, he set up the so called Dutch Botanical Garden as kitchen and teaching garden.
Archiv der Bundesgärten, Schönbrunn
Habit de Jardinier – fantastical costume of a gardener
colour print, Nicolas de Larmessin, 17th C. (reproduction)
A gardener poses here in a grotesque-fantastical costume composed of utensils required for his occupation. Behind him we see the result of his work: an exemplary Baroque garden with broderie parterres, fountains, basins and dead-straight paths.
Bayerische Verwaltung der staatlichen Schlösser, Gärten u. Seen, Zug.-Nr. 1753, Standort: Bayreuth, Schloss Fantasie, Gartenkunst-Museum (Foto: © Bayerische Schlösserverwaltung, Maria Scherf / Andrea Gruber, München)
The Prussian horticultural artist Peter Joseph Lenné
Bust, biscuit porcelain on porcelain base, Imperial Porcelain Manufactory Vienna (design Johann Christian Frank), 1845
During his training in Schönbrunn, Lenné (1789–1866), later garden director of the royal Prussian gardens, was assistant to the court gardener Franz Anton Boos. Very few famous horticultural artists have been portrayed in the form of paintings, graphics or even busts.
Schloß Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H., Inv.Nr. SKB 008608
Apprenticeship certificate for a gardener
Parchment, attached seal in wooden capsule, dated May 1, 1827
Court garden director Franz Boos (1753–1832) certifies on behalf of Emperor Franz I that Joseph Nickel has learned the art of gardening during his three-year apprenticeship at the imperial court garden in Schönbrunn.
Schloß Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H.
Illustrations of typical garden activities
hand-coloured aquatint after William Henry Pyne, from: Mikrokosmos, printed by J. Hill, 1808
Bridgeman images, Bildnr.: XYC153193
Porcelain figure of a gardener
According to contemporary reports, Prince Eugene saw to the training of his gardeners himself. During his era, ten to twelve trainee gardeners and sixteen day labourers were employed, under the chief gardener Anton Zinner.
Stift St. Paul im Lavanttal, Kunstsammlungen
