Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):276-284

Decoration of the Treasury in the Telč State Chateau and its draft basis

Jan Salava

The article discusses the sgraffito decoration in the Treasury room at the State Telč Castle, elaborating on the hitherto identified draft material in the work of Rudolf Wyssenbach. It now dates the decorations to the early 1560's, possibly to the end of the 1550's. It takes into account the existing knowledge on the drafts and possible similarities to sgraffito decoration in nearby Slavonice, from where workshop of Leopold Estreicher worked in Telč and in the historically and architecturally identical Town Hall in Moravská Třebová. On the possible iconography of the room, a similar work can be seen by Jacques Androueta Du Cerceau I, whose works inspired Rudolf Wyssenbach himself. Du Cerceau provided the name of the particular structure on some of his sheets. In one case, this is the sheet that served from Wyssenbych's work as a model for the southern wall and represents the Temple of Venus. Behind this wall is the private chapel of St. George. Behind the northern wall depicting the triumphal arch is located the Banquet Hall with sgraffito images of the seven vices, Herod's banquet with the beheading of John the Baptist, Orpheus playing to the animals and a variety of hunting scenes. The concept of the Treasury seems to be a homogeneous part of the sophisticated iconography of the ground floor of the old castle and in its very beginning it probably served as the bedroom for Catherine of Wallenstein. According to period inventories, at the end of Zachariáš' life it served as a kind of a Kunstkammer, where Zachariáš often lingered.

Keywords: Telč, castle, Treasury, graphics, sgraffito

Published: September 1, 2015  Show citation