My prior Art posts can be found HERE.
How do we move away from being a civilization that produces art that causes comments like, “my five year old could make this,” back to being one that creates beauty and inspires deep questions? We must reject modernity and embrace tradition. To embrace tradition, we must first learn about it..
Let’s study art history together.
Maria Theresa Monument (Vienna, Austria)
Do you ever find yourself yearning for the return of the Hapsburg Dynasty and the restoration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire? Me too. Alas, we must continue to wait for Karl von Habsburg to ascend and for Central Europe to have its Empire back.
In the interim, though, we can think back on the good times. And to that end, we are fortunate that monuments to past greatness and great deeds still dot the landscape of Europe. One of the best of those is the Maria Theresa Monument in Vienna, commemorating the forty year rule of 18th century Empress Maria Theresa.
Just to be clear about the extent and reach of her rule – she was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Slavonia, Mantua, Milan, Moravia, Galicia and Lodomeria, Dalmatia, Austrian Netherlands, Carinthia, Carniola, Gorizia and Gradisca, Austrian Silesia, Tyrol, Styria and Parma. By marriage, she was Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and Holy Roman Empress. She played a significant role in modernizing the Empire. (more via wiki)
Legacy
Maria Theresa understood the importance of her public persona and was able to simultaneously evoke both esteem and affection in her subjects; a notable example was how she projected dignity and simplicity to awe the people in Pressburg before she was crowned as Queen (Regnant) of Hungary. Her 40-year reign was considered to be very successful when compared to other Habsburg rulers. Her reforms had transformed the empire into a modern state with a significant international standing. She centralised and modernised its institutions, and her reign was considered as the beginning of the era of “enlightened absolutism” in Austria, with a brand new approach toward governing: the measures undertaken by rulers became more modern and rational, and thoughts were given to the welfare of the state and the people. Many of her policies were not in line with the ideals of the Enlightenment (such as her support of torture), and she was still very much influenced by Catholicism from the previous era. Vocelka even stated that “taken as a whole the reforms of Maria Theresa appear more absolutist and centralist than enlightened, even if one must admit that the influence of enlightened ideas is visible to a certain degree.” Despite being among the most successful Habsburg monarchs and remarkable leaders of the 18th century, Maria Theresa has not captured the interest of contemporary historians or media, perhaps due her hardened nature.
While she might not have the interest of contemporary historians or media, what she does have is an incredible monument in Vienna. It might be that the statue will preserve her memory beyond these present-times, and that in some future time, historians will take a longer look at her rule. That’s the power of long-enduring symbols.
The Maria Theresa Memorial is one of the most important monuments of the Habsburg monarchy in Vienna. It commemorates Empress Maria Theresa, who ruled the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 to 1780. The monument stands since 1888 on the Maria-Theresien-Platz between the Art History Museum, which opened in 1891, and the Natural History Museum, which opened in 1889.
The Monument
In the 1860’s, the Austrian Empire had been defeated in the Austro-Prussian War and the Third Italian War of Independence, followed by an economical crisis. The aim was to counteract these setbacks, with patriotic appeals to the splendor of the dual monarchy in the past.
The new ring road around Vienna’s old town, which had been under construction since 1858 and opened in 1865, offered the opportunity to do so. Monuments to the two most important generals of the monarchy, Prince Eugene of Savoy and Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen, were erected in 1860 and 1865 on the Heldenplatz in front of the Hofburg, which adjoins Maria-Theresien-Platz on the other side of the Ring Road. For the Maria-Theresien-Platz, it made sense to erect a monument to the historic mother of the country. Her prestige and popularity should radiate onto the current empire.In 1874, the three sculptors Johannes Benk, Carl Kundmann and Kaspar von Zumbusch submitted designs for the execution of the sculptures. Emperor Franz Joseph I chose Zumbusch, who worked with his student Anton Brenek for around 13 years on the bronze sculptures, which weighed a total of 44 tons. Baron Karl von Hasenauer designed the architecture of the monument.
With the base, the monument covers an area of 632 m2 and is 19.36 m high, on top sits the figure of the Empress with a height of 6 m. The base and chain stand are made of Mauthausen granite from Enns in Upper Austria, the pedestal and base are made of brown hornblende granite from Petersburg-Jeschitz near Pilsen in Bohemia, the columns are made of serpentinite from Pfitsch near Sterzing in South Tyrol.
The content of the program for the monument came from Alfred von Arneth, Director of the Imperial House, Court and State Archives. The monarch herself sits on her throne in the center, in her left hand a scepter and the Pragmatic Sanction, the state and constitutional treaty that enabled her as a woman to rule in the Habsburg hereditary lands and in Hungary, greeting the people with her right hand. Four female figures sit on the cornice around the throne as allegorical embodiments of the 4 cardinal virtues of justice, strength, mildness and wisdom.
On each of the four sides of the plinth there is an arch field with a relief, and in front of it, a free-standing statue in a thematic context:
The Empress’ Advisers
- as a statue: Wenzel Anton Kaunitz
- in relief, the background of which shows the Gloriette in the garden of Schönbrunn Palace:
The Administrators
- as a statue: Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz
- in relief, in a consultation room in the Hofburg:
- Antal Grassalkovich I (represents the Kingdom of Hungary),
- Samuel von Brukenthal (for Transylvania),
- Paul Joseph von Riegger (scientist, constitutional lawyer),
- Joseph von Sonnenfels (administrative reformer) represent the administration),
- Karl Anton von Martini (university professor for constitutional law) .
The Military
- as a statue: Joseph Wenzel I, Prince of Liechtenstein
- in relief, in front of the castle in Wiener Neustadt, where the Theresian Military Academy was established in 1752:
Science and Art
- as a statue: doctor Gerard van Swieten
- in relief, in front of the Old University:
- Joseph Hilarius Eckhel (numismatist),
- György Pray (historian),
- Christoph Willibald Gluck (composer),
- Joseph Haydn (composer)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, depicted as a child, .
On the diagonal axes, there are equestrian statues of four Field Marshals from the era of Maria Theresa surrounding the monument:
- Leopold Joseph von Daun (1705–1766),
- Ludwig Andreas von Khevenhüller (1683–1744),
- Ernst Gideon von Laudon (1717–1790),
- Otto Ferdinand von Abensperg und Traun (1677–1748).
A grand ceremony was held on 13 May 1888 to unveil the monument on the 171st birthday of the Empress. For this purpose, an imperial box was erected in a marquee in front of the monument, in which the entire imperial family took part in the ceremony. The Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Cölestin Josef Ganglbauer, celebrated a Te Deum with 20 other bishops. When the monument was unveiled, all the church bells in Vienna rang.
The monument is being completely renovated since October 2008.
The following video provides a really excellent tour of the monument. For anyone hoping earnestly to see the Holy Roman Empire rise again, you may have to endure your waiting with the help of this monument of the Empire’s past greatness. Seeing pictures doesn’t really capture the scope, scale, beauty, and grandeur of this project. The video does a better job.
This video is pretty fun, too, inasmuch as it gives you an opportunity to feel as though you’re standing in the square:
