Zprávy památkové péče 2020, 80(3-4):342-353 | DOI: 10.56112/zpp.2020.3.10

Aspects of heritage care and revising knowledge on the Jindřichův Hradec Rondel

Petra Hečková¹, Zdeněk Kovářík¹, Petr Kuneš²

¹ Fakulta restaurování Univerzity Pardubice

² NPÚ, GnŘ

The Rondel, also referred to in sources as the "Lusthaus", was the conclusion to a costly and decades-long reconstruction of Jindřichův Hradec castle in the 1690s during the reign of the last lords of Hradec. This monumental vaulted pavilion is known mainly for the late Renaissance decoration in its interior, created from a combination of stucco and terracotta and supplemented by polychrome areas, paintings, and gilding. Over the centuries, this decoration was marked by a number of adverse changes and interventions that significantly affected not only its current appearance, but also the possibilities for learning about the structure's history and art-historical significance. Two phases of heritage restoration during the 20th century were probably the most fundamental in this respect. The first was work done in the first half of the 1940s, during the reign of Count Eugen Alfons Czernin, when part of the plastic interior decoration was restored by Wilhelm Neubauer and Miroslav Böswart, supplemented in plaster and cleaned of later paints and finishes. The aim of this work was to achieve a supposed Renaissance color that quite unhistorically accentuated the opposite of reddish terracotta and white stucco.
A more extensive intervention took place in the second half of the 1970s and the early 1980s. This involved a comprehensive renovation of the plastic decoration and the restoration of the paintings, provided by restorers of the Czech Fine Arts Fund "Dílo", also accompanied by the reconstruction of the gilding. A detailed analysis of the file materials concerning this last major heritage restoration event, together with an evaluation of the results of recent restoration research, showed that differences of opinion between the expectations of the restorer (Regional Center for State Heritage Care and Nature Protection in České Budějovice) and the opinions of professional heritage care (State Institute for Heritage Care and Nature Protection) were already evident during the restoration process and which pointed out critical problems, especially regarding the suitability of the choice of gilding method. On the one hand stood a relatively precise and responsible approach in the restoration of the plastic decoration and an effort to return to a spirit of authenticity (choice of lime stucco and terracotta for restoration of plastic parts of the decoration), while on the other stood the question of the degree of gilding reconstruction and the choice of technical means (gilding using a gold substitute known in Czech as "metal"); at the time of its creation as well as presently, almost four decades after the work, this proved to be unsuitable not only from a technological, but also from an artistic and aesthetic point of view. Similar cases show how important a detailed acquaintance and analysis is in any historical or artistic-historical interpretation of a property's modern history, including a thorough knowledge of the nature of its previous interventions; this also applies to the planning of future heritage interventions on similar structures.

Keywords: stucco, terracotta, supplementing, reconstruction, history of heritage care, SÚPPOP, KSSPPOP, gilding, metal

Published: September 1, 2020  Show citation