A Review of J. B. Fischer Von Erlach: Architecture As Theater in the Baroque

Architectural Petcu, E J 2013 A Review of J. B. Fischer von Erlach: Architecture as Histories Theater in the Baroque Era. Architectural Histories, 1(1): 4, pp.1-3, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/ah.ad BOOK REVIEW A Review of J. B. Fischer von Erlach: Architecture as Theater in the Baroque Era Text by Esther Gordon Dotson and Photography by Mark Richard Ashton, Yale University Press, 184 pages, 2012, ISBN: 9780300166682 Elizabeth J. Petcu* What do we mean when we speak of the “theatricality” of This editorial orientation reflects Dotson’s sensitivity to Baroque architecture? A reputation for exceptional per- historical viewing conditions and corroborates her larger formative agency grants building from this era a privileged narrative. By considering the architect’s designs in light role in broader discourses about art’s capacity to embody of the texts, images, buildings, and experiences accessible spectacle, but the operations and implications of this his- to his wider public, both Dotson and Ashton illuminate torical phenomenon are not always clear. Caroline van Fischer’s methods for engaging audiences. Eck has recently argued that studies on art and theatrical- In the introductory chapter, “Architecture as Theater,” ity in the early modern period have either accounted for the author suggests that the dual influences of contempo- concrete instances of exchange between visual arts and rary stage design and ephemeral architecture reveal them- the theater or highlighted works’ aptitude for structuring selves in the theatrical effects of Fischer’s permanent and affecting scenarios (van Eck 2013: 8–23). In J.B. Fischer von temporary structures. This omnivorous approach to inven- Erlach: Architecture as Theater in the Baroque Era, Esther tion cemented the architect’s modern-day reputation for Dotson reconciles the two interests. By drawing connec- capriciousness and eclecticism. Yet by arguing that his tions between Fischer’s lifelong experimentation with for- theatrical idiom responded to patrons’ political and social mal strategies for staging festive or theatrical spaces and objectives while manifesting the architect’s own artis- his tactics for conveying dramatic effects, the book intro- tic experiments, Dotson promises a new reading of Fis- duces the outstanding architect of Vienna Gloriosa to a cher’s idiosyncratic style. She introduces Fischer’s oeuvre new generation of English-speaking readers.1 This roughly with the Austrian National Library in Vienna. The work chronological series of descriptive case studies—derived betrays the architect’s sensitivity to the interplay between from the manuscript left behind at the author’s death in light and shadow, deft fixing and ordering of views, and 20092—attends equally to the form, context and impact of keen manipulation of viewer’s movements between and his most spectacular works. Though Dotson did not enjoy through interior and exterior spaces—all hallmark aspects the opportunity to perform more extensive archival and of his mature designs. However, the author’s interpreta- historiographical investigations, her text suggests how tion of the Library as representative of the various facets future scholarship might address the forms early modern comprising Fischer’s unique understanding of architec- architectural theatricality took, while also probing the tural illusion is problematic, as authors since Hans Aur- mechanics behind encounters between contemporary enhammer have noted the role his son Joseph Emmanuel works and viewers. also played in designing the building (Aurenhammer The interplay between architecture and experience in 1973: 147). Combining phenomenological description Fischer’s major projects is ably expressed through the and briefer historical analysis, Dotson’s reading of the book’s apt combination of evocative descriptions and Hofbibliothek sets the methodological tone for the rest of photographs. Photographer and preface author Mark the volume. Ashton, who supplemented the manuscript with illustra- “Training and Early Work: Becoming an Imperial Archi- tions and a bibliographic essay, relates that his collabora- tect” describes how Fischer’s studies in Rome and Naples tor regarded text and image as equally crucial components under Johann Paul Schor informed the theatrical idiom of this project’s fundamentally descriptive objectives. he later perfected. Through Schor, the architect gained Shooting without artificial lighting and exclusively from access to the circle of Queen Christina of Sweden, in Rome vantage points accessible in Fischer’s day, Ashton seeks to since her abdication in 1654. This learned patron of the capture how Fischer coordinated audiences’ attention to visual arts and the theater also supported Gian Lorenzo the sequential unfolding of built forms and lighting shifts. Bernini, Nicodemus Tessin the Younger, and Giovanni Pietro Bellori. Fischer’s experiences in this world ensured his precocious ability to fuse the typically distinct formal * Princeton University, USA idioms of ephemeral and permanent architecture, and to [email protected] Petcu: A Review of J. B Fischer von Erlach: Architecture as Theater in the Baroque Era Art. 4, page 2 of 3 design with reference to multiple regional traditions. The and demonstrated his talent for composing stimulating monumentally ambitious plans for Schönbrunn Palace architectural experiences. the architect presented to Leopold I in 1688 epitomize “Imperial Vienna: The Emperor as Patron” details how this versatility. Though only realized a decade later, and the affective aptitude of Fischer’s mature style shaped the on a much smaller scale, the Habsburg’s suburban retreat Bauwelle, or “building deluge,” following Vienna’s deliv- still reflects how Fischer’s original designs reimagined the erance from the Siege and transformed the capital into Sanctuary of Fortuna at Primigenia, Palestrina, with refer- an urban stage manifesting Habsburg power. Daringly ence to the opera sets of his own era. The architect also located outside the city’s fortifications, the votive Church drew from contemporary theater architecture and classi- of St. Charles Borromeo, or Karlskirche, Emperor Charles cal models like the Golden House of Nero to renovate par- VI dedicated to his name-saint and plague intercessor after adigmatic regional forms in the cavernous entrance hall Vienna recovered from the pestilence of 1713 embodied of the Liechtenstein stables at Lednice and his unusual the era’s optimism. Here the architect connected shift- oval ground plan for the ancestral hall of Althan Castle at ing lighting effects with the progressive unfolding of Vranov nad Dyjí. the building’s iconographical program, experimenting In “Another Ruler, Another City: Designs for Salzburg”, with new ways of linking form and allegorical content. Dotson shows how Fischer’s mastery of urban scenogra- In this sense, the work epitomized Fischer’s strategies for phy emerged in the Ursilinenkirche, Dreifaltigkeitskirche, moving audiences—physically, emotionally, and psycho- Johanneskirche, and Kollegienkirche he designed for logically—in a manner attentive to the “human dramas” Prince Archbishop Johann Ernst Graf Thun and other his works contained (Dotson and Ashton 2012: 51). The patrons throughout the 1690s. All except the Kollegien- church occupied a triumphant position in the newly- kirche were built under conditions unconstrained by secure and rapidly expanding suburbs. Perpendicular to extant architecture or surrounding topography. Fischer the axially-aligned Imperial stables, Filiberto Lucchese’s was therefore free to perfect a model for what Dotson Leopoldinertrakt, the Imperial library, and the Michaeler- terms the “urban proscenium” (Dotson and Ashton 2012: tor, it commanded a full vista of the palace complex Fis- 66)—a dramatic passage between oblique and frontal cher and his son realized during the first decades of the angles of approach, often framed by triumphal arches, in eighteenth century. By visibly connecting his numerous which the viewer emerges from darkness into light. The Imperial commissions within and across Vienna’s rapidly formula drew from Girolamo Fontana and G.F. Grimaldi’s transforming landscape, the architect created an enduring theater designs and the form of the Piazza del Popolo in theater for representing Habsburg dynastic glory. Rome. Yet by propelling audiences between profane and Fischer’s magisterial Entwurff einer historischen Architek- sacred realms, it also suggested the deeper forces these tur of 1712 disseminated and indeed immortalized the holy spaces contained. The architect meanwhile experi- image of the city he helped remake. In “A Learned Archi- mented with the pleasurable effects of disorientation at tect,” Dotson argues that this first comprehensive world Count Thun’s Kleßheim retreat. His central-plan garden history of architecture also offered an unprecedented pavilion—the so-called Hoyos Stöckl—lacks any static fron- paradigm for combining classical, biblical, and even non- tal view, while the dynamically recessing, projecting, and European theatrical motifs within a unified architectural interpenetrating volumes of the palace that later joined it idiom. She additionally asserts that the work demon- reinterprets Louis Le Vaux’s1656–1661 Vaux le Vicomte strated how to contrive erudite programs for permanent with a new, kinetic vigor. and ephemeral monuments: the entire fourth tome is Dotson contends that the energetic style and talent for filled with original designs showcasing a heterogeneous,

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