PLAQUE REPRÉSENTANT LA VILLE DE PRAGUE - photo 1
PLAQUE REPRÉSENTANT LA VILLE DE PRAGUE - photo 2

PLAQUE REPRÉSENTANT LA VILLE DE PRAGUE

Sold
€ 239 400
Auction dateClassic
12.03.2024 14:00UTC +02:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
France, Paris
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1164523
Lot 60 | PLAQUE REPRÉSENTANT LA VILLE DE PRAGUE
PLAQUE REPRÉSENTANT LA VILLE DE PRAGUE

ATTRIBUÉE À COSIMO CASTRUCCI (1536-1636), PRAGUE, VERS 1590-1619

En marqueterie de marbres et de pierres dures, bois fossilisé, cristal de roche, sur fond d'ardoise, le cadre associé à décor de miroir, verre et métal doré

La plaque : 28 x 39 cm. (11 x 15 ½ in.)

Le cadre : 41 x 54,5 cm. (16 x 21 ½ in.)





Provenance

Par tradition Trésor de Rodolphe II, empereur du Saint-Empire romain germanique (1552-1612).

Bernard Steinitz (1933-2012), Biennale des Antiquaires, Paris, 2003.

Collection Jacques Rosenthal, Boulogne.

Vente Sotheby's, Londres, Treasures, 3 juillet 2019, lot 12.



Literature

G. Maugé, Opus Sectile. La marqueterie de pierres dures européenne du XVIe et XIXe siècle, galerie Gismondi, Paris, pp. 8-53.



BIbliographie comparative :

K. Chytil, La couronne de Rodolphe II, Prague 1921, p. 26.

F. Eichler et E. Kris, Die Kameen im Kunsthistorischen Museum in Wien, cat. Kunshistorisches Museum, Vienna, 1929, p. 28.

J. Morávek, Nov ĕ objeven ý inventá ř rudolfinsk ý ch sbírek na Hrad ĕ Pra ž ském, Prague, 1937, p. 11.

E. Neumann, Florentiner Mosaik aus Prag, in Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien, LIII, 1957, pp. 157-202.

B. Bukovinská, Dal š í florentské mosaiky z Prah- y, in Um ĕ ni, XX, 1972, pp. 363-370.

L. Bartoli et E. A. Maser, Il Museo dell' Opificio delle pietre dure (...), Florence.

C. W. Fock, Der Goldschmied J. Bylivelt aus Delft und sein Wirken in den Mediceischen Hofwerkstatt in Florenz, in Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien, LXX, 1974.

A. M. Giusti, Pietre Dure. L'arte europea del mosaico negli arredi e nelle decorazioni dal 1500 al 1800, Florence, 1992.

A. M. Massinelli, The Gilbert Collection: Hardstones, cat. Gilbert Collection, Londres, 2000, pp. 29-31.

W. Koeppe et Annamaria Giusti (dir.), Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe, cat. exp. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2008, pp. 219-225, no. 66-69.



Exhibited

Biennale des Antiquaires, galerie Bernard Steinitz, Paris, 2003.



Further details

A PIETRA DURA, ROCK CRYSTAL, FOSSILISED WOOD, MARQUETRY PLAQUE REPRESENTING THE CITY OF PRAGUE, ATTRIBUTED TO COSIMO CASTRUCCI (1536-1636), PRAGUE, CIRCA 1590-1619

In 1583, the Habsburg Emperor Rudolph II (1552-1612) moved his court from Vienna to Prague, the ancient heart of the Bohemian Empire, and established one of the most lively and cosmopolitan artistic centres of Europe. Nine years later, the emperor completed his second prodigious transfer, that of the lapidist Cosimo Castrucci from Florence to Prague, in a move that sought to further enhance the artistic output of the court and help establish a visual identity of his Bohemia.

The ruler first became aware of the art of stone inlay or commesso di pietre dure when in 1589, Grand Duke Ferdinando I de’Medici gifted the emperor a pietra dura tabletop. Following this, Rudolph ordered his own commission which took six and a half years to complete and incorporated stones from Bohemia which he had had sent to Florence. The emperor, however, was not content merely collecting hardstone objects for his famous Kunstkammer but wanted to produce them as well and with the arrival of Castrucci and later his son Giovanni, (d. 1615), the production of pietra dura plaques began to be identified with the city of Prague. Ultimately, the Castrucci family was able to create a new and distinctive style from that of the Florentine pietra dura; the workshop’s compositions informed by the rich artistic environment of the city and their production supported by the hungry demand and generous endowment of their royal patron.

The present panel offers an idealised vision of Prague, identifiable by the Charles Bridge, on the far left-hand side of the plaque, connecting the two banks of the capital. The river scene below infers the city’s bustling port trade and the topography of the foreground closely echoes that of Petřín hill. However, Prague’s normally unspoilt bucolic left bank has been embellished with a scattering of edifices, not just in the traditional Dutch style but equally with an ancient rotunda that more closely follows the Italian tradition. This amalgamation of ancient building and contemporary setting is a recurring theme throughout the commissioned landscapes of Rudolph II’s court artists. The Sovreign granted access to his vast Kunstkammer to encourage local artists and makers to enrich their works with atypical monuments and ancient designs sourced from his collection of drawings, paintings and maps. This practice can be seen in two compositions by Roland Savery (fig. 1) and Pieter Stevens (fig. 2): Savery, in his drawing of the Charles Bridge, includes a depiction of an ancient rotunda sitting high on the luscious hill; in Hendrick Hondius the Younger’s engraving after Stevens, one can observe a large temple structure whose rounded roof is pierced by two windows. Both these iterations of classical forms closely echo the present panel’s construction of the hilltop rotunda, highlighted by a wide orange band in Lorraine jasper. Although we cannot be certain that the plaque was directly informed by Savery and Stevens, the comparison does confirm a consistent visual program that ran throughout the artistic production of Rudolph’s court. The incorporation of these historic structures into the topography of Prague imbues the respective scenes with a sense of mysticism and link the contemporary settings to an ancient past, thus visually elevating Rudolph’s new capital to a center of history and further aligns his present kingdom with the rich legacy of ancient Bohemia.

The distinctive bohemian composition of the panel is equally echoed in the physical make-up and the technical execution. Departing from the Florentine tradition, the dazzling nature of the work is achieved through the highly detailed and delicate interplay of colour. Alongside the traditional Italian marble, several rare stones, including local agates, chalcedonies, jaspers, amethysts, and rock crystal, are incorporated into the composition; an addition that reflected the sovereign’s own passion for the mineral wealth of his kingdom. The graduation and schematic placement of the stones is distinctive specifically to Cosimo Castrucci’s oeuvre, his virtuosity born from his training as a goldsmith. The grouping of earthy greens and browns for the foreground against the hazier pastel colours for the horizon creates a sense of three-dimensionality which further adds to the dreamlike quality of the panel, brought about by the natural incidence of the material. This specific technique lent itself to pastural and rocky landscapes and Cosimo and his workshop produced several scenes of verdant and jagged outcrops for the emperor. Notably Landscape with city view and flaming sky and Landscape with an Obelisk both held in the collections of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. nos. Kunstkammer 3039 and 3397), bear striking similarities to the present panel, the variant green marbles and bright inserts of jasper used to form a dynamic countryside with the sharp stone penetrating through the verdant shrubbery. Indeed, the panel manifests as a highly evocative and beautifully executed ode to Rudoph’s vision of Prague, brought to life by the intricate skill of Cosimo Castrucci and his workshop.
Medium:Marble, Stone
Place of origin:Eastern Europe, Czech Republic, Italy, Europe
Auction house category:Sculptures, Statues & Figures
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
9 Avenue Matignon
75008 Paris
France
Preview
12.03.2024 – 12.03.2024
Phone +33 (0)1 40 76 85 85
Fax +33 (0)1 40 76 85 86
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@AGLSDAYQG1LYAK3YGRQ@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Shipping Postal service
Courier service
pickup by yourself
Payment methods Wire Transfer
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 09:00 – 00:00    00:00 – 18:00
Tu 09:00 – 00:00    00:00 – 18:00
We 09:00 – 00:00    00:00 – 18:00
Th 09:00 – 00:00    00:00 – 18:00
Fr 09:00 – 00:00    00:00 – 18:00
Sa closed
Su closed

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.