The Baroque garden offered the aristocracy a multitude of options for use. The garden was not only an opportunity to parade one’s financial scope. As an extension of palatial interiors it was a place to linger and enjoy during the warm seasons. One could stroll for hours at one’s leisure, read, make music, converse, or simply relax. For social gatherings it was a wonderful spot to enjoy music, theatre and the grand finale of a fireworks display. And on occasion the aristocracy joined in hands on as a hobby.
Next to them we have the legions of gardeners who preserved and tended this earthly paradise. Without them a Baroque garden would never have become reality.
La Danse – garden scene from Schloss Eggenberg
This large-format wall painting shows one of the favourite aristocratic garden pastimes. Accompanied by musicians, people dance in the open air in the midst of nature shaped by the creative human hand – the Baroque garden as an open-air ballroom!
Schloss Eggenberg / Foto: © Universalmuseum Joanneum GmbH
Emperor Francis Stephen I with Maria Theresa (or his sister Anne Charlotte?) in the garden
brush drawing, Franz Walter, 19th C. (reproduction)
This scene shows the emperor sans imperial insignia in a private moment. He is practising his favourite hobby, gardening. Kneeling, he shows off a rose bush while his companion holds a basket of flowers in her hand. This idealised portrayal has a deeper meaning, because just as the gardener makes the garden thrive through his skilful care, so the wise ruler succeeds in leading his people to well-being and happiness.
ÖNB, Bildarchiv und Grafiksammlung, Inv.Nr. Pk 2533 Por Mag
The great antique vase in the Medici garden with the executing artist
etching, Stefano della Bella, 1656 (reproduction)
The garden with its hedges, flower beds, fountains and sculptures offers a multitude of motifs for artistic studies. Here, for instance, we see a boy busy drawing a large garden vase.
MAK – Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst, Inv.Nr. KI 1-1022
Maria Theresa in widow’s weeds
watercolour on paper, Ignaz Manzador (facsimile)
Maria Theresa is shown here in widow’s weeds with a long train. The exceptional feature of this portrait is that the artist presents the regent not only from the front but – if the picture is turned – also from the rear. Maria Theresa stands on a terrace in front of a Baroque garden with floral parterre, geometrically cut hedges and tall trees.
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Inv.Nr. RP-T-1996-50(R)
Fireworks for the wedding of Emperor Leopold I with the Spanish Infanta Margarita Teresa, 1666
engraving from: Matthäus Merian, Theatrum Europaeum, vol. 10, engraved 1698 (reproduction)
The highlight of a garden event was usually a fireworks display, which not only lit up the sky but also flooded the Baroque garden ensemble in a colourful kaleidoscope of glittering and flashing light.
Schloß Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H., Inv.Nr. SKB 001234
Garden and Palais of the Landschreiber (Protonotorius or head clerk) Johann Martin von Hocke in Josefstadt
engraving, Johann August Corvinus after Salomon Kleiner, 1725
The artist Salomon Kleiner not only depicts the palais and Baroque garden with its sculptures, parterres and topiary, but also leisure activities of the aristocratic society. Besides promenaders, in the foreground, we see a group gathered round a table for an open-air music session.
Private Collection
The imperial rooftop garden in the Hofburg
pen and ink drawing/gouache, c. 1795 (reproduction)
The enthusiastic plant lover and hobby gardener Francis II/I ordered one of the first roof gardens to be set up in Vienna. On the roof over the cabinet of naturalia in the Hofburg he owned a glasshouse, a fountain and several flower beds, in which he tended inter alia a handsome array of geraniums. Here, the emperor could escape everyday stress and find peace and quiet.
Wien Museum, Inv.Nr. 95070
Personal gardening tools of Emperor Francis II/(I )
mahogany, metal, c. 1810
In keeping with the family tradition, every child of the imperial family learned a “common or garden” trade. Emperor Francis discovered his passion for nature early on. His personal gardening tools are still preserved.
Bundesmobilienverwaltung, Inv.Nr. spade MD 043312 / rake MD 043318 / pickaxe MD 043320 / rake MD 043323 / rake MD 043324 / coping saw MD 043310 / shovel MD 043315
Garden tools
Illustration from: Louis Liger, La Nouvelle Maison Rustique ou Économie générale de tous les biens de campagne, vol. 2, Paris, 1755 (reproduction)
Besides model books containing instructions for laying out Baroque gardens and the plants to be grown there, ever more catalogues with garden tools were being published as well.
Private Collection
Display case
Empress Maria Theresa as Widow
oil painting Austrian School after Joseph Ducreux, c. 1770 (reproduction)
After the death of her beloved consort Francis Stephen, Maria Thresa withdrew to Schloss Hof for her year of mourning. In the 1770s she ordered another level to be added to the palace. However, at her wish the appearance of the garden was kept in its Baroque style. It was during this time that roses were added to the garden.
Wimpole Hall, The Bambridge Collection (National Trust), Inv.Nr. NT 207801
Maria Theresa’s flower clippers
metal, silverplated, in leather case, with chronogram, 1781
Stiftsmuseum Klosterneuburg, Inv.Nr. KG 387c
Rosa centifolia with insects
watercolour with opaque colours over transfer lithography on parchment, Maria Sibylla Merian, post-1679 (facsimile)
Merian (1647–1717) is one of the few women artists of the Baroque period who has been remembered by posterity. Her intensive powers of observation and great artistic talent enabled her to depict plants close to nature, particularly flowers , which are sometimes populated by insects.
Städelmuseum Frankfurt am Main, Inv.Nr. 1497
