Upper Belvedere

Wednesday, August 18

Another tour with Dr. O!  Today’s was at Belvedere Palace, which was the summer palace of Prince Eugene of  Savoy who was the mastermind behind the successful strategy to defeat the Turks in the 1638 siege of Vienna.  The Upper Belvedere was originally his guest house.  After his death, his niece Victoria began to sell off his property and the Habsburgs bought the Belvedere.  After the abolition of the Habsburg dynasty, Belvedere became the property of the Austrian Republic and later became the Austrian Art Gallery.  The Belvedere’s collection of art spans from the Baroque style of the Palace all the way up to modern artists of Austria.  

In our tour today, one of the collections we focused on was the Biedermeier collection.  This collections consisted of such works as those of the artist Frederich von Amerling.  He painted many portraits of the bourgeois in Vienna as well as the aristocrats.  The paintings of his that the Belvedere collection focused on were two of his portraits of the middle class.  My favorite one was his portrait of Rudolf von Arthaber who was a wealthy doctor in Vienna.  In this portrait, the doctor is surrounded by his three children.  They look to be the perfect picture of the loving family.  It also embodies the principles of the Biedermeier culture and style as Dr. O pointed out.  The father is in the roll of protector and provider as he has his young children gathered around him.  The daughter is embodying the feminine role of that time as she is dressed in very feminine attire with perfectly curled hair, and holding her doll.  Even as a child she is preparing for her future roll as wife and mother.  The boys embody the rough boyishness that will develop as they grow older into masculinity.  One example of this in the painting was how the young boy had a torn hat.  His father with out a doubt had enough wealth to have his son not have a ripped hat.  But the rip in his clothing in this case does not represent poverty but instead represents his playfulness and his inherent boyishness.  

Dr. O discussed how the Biedermeier was an entire life style that still exists in Vienna today.  It was in reaction to the “reign of Metternich” who was the Austrian Chancellor at the time.  After the instability of the Napoleonic era, Austria under Metternich was closely monitored by his secret police.  He did not want anything like the French Revolution to ever happen again in Europe.  Therefore, it was his goal to return Europe to the status quo, the way it was before the war.  Because of the harsh political realities, Austrian families turned inward and family life because the everyday focus.  This created a cautious culture that looked to its family for comfort and protection.  

After the tour we walked down through the gardens toward the Lower Belvedere taking in the beauty of the formal French inspired gardens.  While they are not as grand as the gardens of Schonburnn, they share the same aesthetic and beauty.