Zprávy památkové péče 2019, 79(3):353-364 | DOI: 10.56112/zpp.2019.3.14

Restoration of stucco decoration in the Hvězda Summer Palace as led by Pavel Janák and his predecessors

Pavla Mikešová

NPÚ GnŘ

The Hvězda Summer Palace in Prague on White Mountain has always been the focus of interest from the professional community. While art historians and historians have thus far mainly dealt with its history, Renaissance stucco decoration and the issue of its authorship, the topic of the restoration of the preserved stucco decoration on the ground floor of the Summer Palace has escaped expert attention. This article seeks to clarify this part of the study of the Summer Palace on the basis of previously unpublished archival documents.
In the introductory chapter, records from period press present the turbulent history of the Summer Palace, which served as a gunpowder store for the Austrian army from 1780. Efforts to preserve this monument, and with it an interest in the clarification of its artistic and historical value, were heightened with the building's access to the public in 1866. Individuals, such as Josef Alexander Helfert (President of the Royal and Imperial Central Commission for seeking out and preserving historical and artistic properties), Jan Erazim Vocel (conservationist for Prague's historical monuments), and Cornelius Schäffner (Secretary of the Krasoumná jednota, Art Association for Bohemia), as well as institutions such as the City of Prague and the Umělecká beseda (Czech Artists' Forum), stepped up in defense of the Summer Palace and for the definitive withdrawal of the military. The Central Commission turned to the Mayor of Prague, Dr. Klaudy, General Staff in Prague, Czech Governorate, Ministry of War, Ministry of the Interior, and the Prime Minister.
The departure of the army in 1874 deepened interest in research. The first scholarly texts by Wilhelm Lübke (1873), Philipp Baum (1877), and Jacob van Falk (1879) commented on the technical preservation of the stucco works. Photographs of castings made in the Vienna Museum of Decorative Arts provided a picture of their condition in the 1870s. The article follows commentaries in the 19th century press and literature on the efforts to restore the stucco decoration. From the Reports of the Central Commission (1880), guide literature of František Adolf Borovský (1887), and the comments of Josef Svátek (1892, 1899), we can see that no major restoration took place until the end of the 19th century or early 20th century, when Dr. Luboš Jeřábek filed a bill at the Czech Parliament for the protection of objects of beauty and natural heritage properties.
It seems most probable, then, that the first restoration of the stucco decoration in Hvězda was not realized until 1922 under the leadership of castle builder Karel Fiala. We have no reports from literature on his involvement in this matter. This matter is refuted by archive materials found in the archives of Prague Castle and the Museum of National Literature. A total of six archival documents dated between 5 March and 9 July 1922 reveal Fiala's official correspondence addressed to the Office of the President of the Republic, the State Heritage Office, the sculptor Jaroslav Krepčík, and his own diary notes. This shows that in the early 1920s, stucco restoration in the Summer Palace took place to a certain extent to which the preserved archival material does not accurately reveal. In addition to the cited sculptor Krepčík, who was to be entrusted with the management of restoration, academic sculptors Václav Antoš and Josef Kalvoda were also involved in the work.
The last chapter reveals, based on the written records of architect Pavel Janák deposited in the Prague Castle Archive, a number of new facts concerning the restoration of the stuccoes which took place at the time of the overall restoration of the summerhouse from 1948 to 1950 before the opening of the Alois Jirásek Museum. The materials can be limited from 22 December 1948 to 28 December 1950. In addition to the only material from 1948, these are Janák's own notes, reflections and remarks of a personal nature which well illustrate the architect's pursuit of the best possible understanding of the technology used in the stuccos' creation so as not to irreversibly damage them. It also shows his conviction that the authenticity of stuccoes should not be replaced by deliberate replenishment. On the one hand, the notes illustrate consultations with professors from leading art schools as well as with representatives of the State Heritage Office, while on the other hand they show his occasionally futile struggle with contemporary architectural practice.

Keywords: Hvězda Summer Palace, Renaissance, stucco, restoration, Karel Fiala, Jaroslav Krepčík, Pavel Janák

Published: September 1, 2019  Show citation