Iconography
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The frescos in the State Hall of the former Court Library are the most famous work of Daniel Grans. They were commissioned by the Emperor and done in the years 1726 to 1730. The themes of the frescos are the apotheosis of Charles VI and the allegorical history of the construction of the Court Library. From an artistic point of view there are many links with the great artists of the European Baroque: Peter Paul Rubens, Carl Le Brun and Francesco Solimena. The program of iconography was created by the court scholar Conrad Adolph von Albrecht. As a visitor enters the Hall s/he sees in the lunette over the first pair of columns Cadmus, the inventor of the Greek alphabet, who is sowing the teeth of a slain dragon. The change from war skills to peacetime erudition takes place in the passage through the Hall. The first thing seen in the cupola oval is the presentation of the sciences. In the cupola the goddess of peace hands Minerva an olive branch; on the left are geniuses with books, and on the right the enemies of erudition. Visible if you look up are Fortuna with a full sail, and above her the figure of fame with the pyramid over the likeness of Charles VI. The approach from the court side sees things through the eyes of the Emperor: it begins with Dawn (Aurora) above the columns and continues with the medallion of the Emperor in the cupola and the allegorised story of the construction of the Library. |
