DOI article:
Wais-Wolf, Christina: Research project Corpus Vitrearum – medieval and modern stained glass in Austria: investigations into Austrian stained glass after 1800 as part of a pilot project at the Austrian Academy of Sciences
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51154#0090
89
painters working in Laxenburg from 1800 and the analysis
of technical developments in this early phase of the reviv-
al of this art genre of stained glass in Austria.11
The windows of the throne room (1821/1822) and the
dining room (1822/1824), which were designed by the Sax-
on glass painter Gottlob Samuel Mohn (1789-1825), are
particularly suitable for iconographie analysis [Figs 1, 2].12
The question arises to what extent the changed historical
developments of the time after the establishment of the
Austrian Empire in 1804 had an impact on the iconogra-
phy of these picture windows. After all, with the accep-
tance of the title of hereditary Emperor of Austria, Franz
had placed himself at the head of an association of king-
doms and countries over which the successive head of the
Habsburg family ruled from then on. At the same time, by
accepting the title of Emperor, which was independent of
any election and territory, Franz actually claimed to be the
only legitimate witness of the Roman imperial tradition.
In the case of the throne room window, Emperor Franz
presents himself standing in a suit of golden armour un-
der an architectural canopy [Fig. 2a]. The Emperors gold-
en armour evokes associations with portraits of Emperor
Maximilian I,13 while the type of standing, harnessed re-
gent’ under the architectural canopy reminds one of stat-
ues such as that of Emperor Friedrich III on the east wall
of the Wiener Neustadt castle chapel, which is located
only a few kilometres south of Laxenburg [Fig. 3]. For the
statue in Wiener Neustadt, from the year 1453, the histori-
cal circumstance is of interest that Friedrich - despite the
fact that he had been crowned Holy Roman Emperor in
Rome a year earlier - had himself consciously depicted as
Archduke of Austria in his residence in Wiener Neustadt.
The decisive factor for this was the final confirmation of
the so-called Privilegium maius, i.e. that of the Austrian
Duke Rudolf IV (1358-1365), which, in a way, made pos-
sible a special status for his house domains, i.e. the prior-
ity of the Austrian patrimonial countries within the Impe-
rial Union.14 * * * * *
11 For the picture programme of the Lorraine Hall see C. Wais-
-Wolf, ‘Habsburgisch-lothringische Mythenbildung unter Kaiser
Franz II. (I.) (1768-1835). Überlegungen zur Medialität der Glas-
malereifolge des Lothringersaales der Franzensburg in Laxen-
burg’, in Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für vergleichende Kunstfor-
schung in Wien, 69, 2017, no. 3, pp. 14-22.
12 In the case of the window of the dining room, the execution was
carried out together with the painter Ludwig Ferdinand Schnorr
von Carolsfeld, whose signature can be found several times in the
window with that of S. Mohn and J. Prechtl: ie, id, 2b (гх), 2e.
13 Recall the portrait of Maximilian I in golden armour, painted
by Bernhard Strigel before 1508. Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Mu-
seum, Gemäldegalerie, Inv.-Nr. 4403, https://www.khm.at/de/
object/ii779Ó7C79/ [retrieved 1 January 2019].
14 In the following centuries, the title of Archduke of Austria formed
a fundamental pillar of Habsburg power politics, in that it was in-
tended to safeguard hereditary possessions and claims to power
inextricably linked to the family in times when the Habsburgs’
2. Gottlob Samuel Mohn, Throne room, central window with por-
traits of Emperor Franz I and his two sons, Archdukes Ferdinand and
Franz Karl, 1821-1822; in the tracery medieval stained glass from
the Charterhouse of Gaming, 1340/1350, Laxenburg, Franzensburg
Photo: Bundesdenkmalamt, В. Neubauer-Pregl
In the throne room window, the sons of Emperor Franz
wear the ermine-lined and ermine collar cloak of the Aus-
trian Archdukes. However, the coat of Emperor Franz
does not seem to correspond to any real existing model.
Although it has the ermine lining of the archducal coat,
the upper part in the area of the coat clasp resembles the
coat on historical depictions of Habsburg Emperors.15 In
the picture window, Franz’s crown is the Rudolfine House
Crown [Fig. 2a], which had served the Habsburgs since
Rudolf II to mark their dignity as Emperors of the Holy
Roman Empire, and which had been chosen by Franz
status as Holy Roman Emperors depended on election. It was
still worn by the Habsburg rulers in the eighteenth century be-
fore all other titles. In the Grand Title of the Emperor of Austria,
the Archduke’s title also occupied a prominent position immedi-
ately after the royal titles.
15 The official coat of the Austrian Empire as depicted in the por-
trait of Friedrich von Amerling from 1832 (see note 22) was only
made in 1830 on the occasion of the coronation of Archduke Fer-
dinand as the younger King of Hungary’, and could not be used
as a model for the throne room window.
painters working in Laxenburg from 1800 and the analysis
of technical developments in this early phase of the reviv-
al of this art genre of stained glass in Austria.11
The windows of the throne room (1821/1822) and the
dining room (1822/1824), which were designed by the Sax-
on glass painter Gottlob Samuel Mohn (1789-1825), are
particularly suitable for iconographie analysis [Figs 1, 2].12
The question arises to what extent the changed historical
developments of the time after the establishment of the
Austrian Empire in 1804 had an impact on the iconogra-
phy of these picture windows. After all, with the accep-
tance of the title of hereditary Emperor of Austria, Franz
had placed himself at the head of an association of king-
doms and countries over which the successive head of the
Habsburg family ruled from then on. At the same time, by
accepting the title of Emperor, which was independent of
any election and territory, Franz actually claimed to be the
only legitimate witness of the Roman imperial tradition.
In the case of the throne room window, Emperor Franz
presents himself standing in a suit of golden armour un-
der an architectural canopy [Fig. 2a]. The Emperors gold-
en armour evokes associations with portraits of Emperor
Maximilian I,13 while the type of standing, harnessed re-
gent’ under the architectural canopy reminds one of stat-
ues such as that of Emperor Friedrich III on the east wall
of the Wiener Neustadt castle chapel, which is located
only a few kilometres south of Laxenburg [Fig. 3]. For the
statue in Wiener Neustadt, from the year 1453, the histori-
cal circumstance is of interest that Friedrich - despite the
fact that he had been crowned Holy Roman Emperor in
Rome a year earlier - had himself consciously depicted as
Archduke of Austria in his residence in Wiener Neustadt.
The decisive factor for this was the final confirmation of
the so-called Privilegium maius, i.e. that of the Austrian
Duke Rudolf IV (1358-1365), which, in a way, made pos-
sible a special status for his house domains, i.e. the prior-
ity of the Austrian patrimonial countries within the Impe-
rial Union.14 * * * * *
11 For the picture programme of the Lorraine Hall see C. Wais-
-Wolf, ‘Habsburgisch-lothringische Mythenbildung unter Kaiser
Franz II. (I.) (1768-1835). Überlegungen zur Medialität der Glas-
malereifolge des Lothringersaales der Franzensburg in Laxen-
burg’, in Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für vergleichende Kunstfor-
schung in Wien, 69, 2017, no. 3, pp. 14-22.
12 In the case of the window of the dining room, the execution was
carried out together with the painter Ludwig Ferdinand Schnorr
von Carolsfeld, whose signature can be found several times in the
window with that of S. Mohn and J. Prechtl: ie, id, 2b (гх), 2e.
13 Recall the portrait of Maximilian I in golden armour, painted
by Bernhard Strigel before 1508. Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Mu-
seum, Gemäldegalerie, Inv.-Nr. 4403, https://www.khm.at/de/
object/ii779Ó7C79/ [retrieved 1 January 2019].
14 In the following centuries, the title of Archduke of Austria formed
a fundamental pillar of Habsburg power politics, in that it was in-
tended to safeguard hereditary possessions and claims to power
inextricably linked to the family in times when the Habsburgs’
2. Gottlob Samuel Mohn, Throne room, central window with por-
traits of Emperor Franz I and his two sons, Archdukes Ferdinand and
Franz Karl, 1821-1822; in the tracery medieval stained glass from
the Charterhouse of Gaming, 1340/1350, Laxenburg, Franzensburg
Photo: Bundesdenkmalamt, В. Neubauer-Pregl
In the throne room window, the sons of Emperor Franz
wear the ermine-lined and ermine collar cloak of the Aus-
trian Archdukes. However, the coat of Emperor Franz
does not seem to correspond to any real existing model.
Although it has the ermine lining of the archducal coat,
the upper part in the area of the coat clasp resembles the
coat on historical depictions of Habsburg Emperors.15 In
the picture window, Franz’s crown is the Rudolfine House
Crown [Fig. 2a], which had served the Habsburgs since
Rudolf II to mark their dignity as Emperors of the Holy
Roman Empire, and which had been chosen by Franz
status as Holy Roman Emperors depended on election. It was
still worn by the Habsburg rulers in the eighteenth century be-
fore all other titles. In the Grand Title of the Emperor of Austria,
the Archduke’s title also occupied a prominent position immedi-
ately after the royal titles.
15 The official coat of the Austrian Empire as depicted in the por-
trait of Friedrich von Amerling from 1832 (see note 22) was only
made in 1830 on the occasion of the coronation of Archduke Fer-
dinand as the younger King of Hungary’, and could not be used
as a model for the throne room window.