Baltic Journal of Art History

Parterre Ornamentation in the Publications of the 16th–17th Centuries

2024-04-30T11:02:57+00:00

Sixteenth and seventeenth century publications afford a great overview of contemporary park designs. Thanks to the surviving books we are able to study the park design of the end of the Renaissance, the Mannerist period and the beginning of the Baroque. That entire garden design period is characterised by the use of parterres. While plant ornamentation is heavily used throughout the period, we do not find as much animal ornamentation in the designs. Dolphins, as important symbols of love and friendship, were beloved figures in park design. In addition to parterre designs, Dolphins can be found in water feature ensembles, fountain groups and grotto niches.

Domenico Trezzini’s Imperial Gate in Narva

2024-04-30T11:09:19+00:00

Before the devastation of the Second World War, the well-preserved historic city Narva, on the eastern border of the Republic of Estonia, was known as a pearl of late 17^th century Swedish Baroque architecture. The development of the most promising economic and administrative centre of the Kingdom of Sweden in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland was halted as a result of the Great Northern War. However, after the bloody and destructive siege of 1704, there was a short period in which Peter I tried to highlight Narva as his victory trophy, which was to undo the disgrace of his previous defeat in the Narva battle of 1700, resulting in several construction projects (for example the house, or “palace”, of the Tsar himself and the remodelling of one of the churches into the orthodox cathedral).

According to the personal testimony of Domenico Trezzini, famous first architect of St Petersburg, his first work in Russia was the city gates in Narva. Letters exchanged between construction project leader Ulyan Senyavin and governor general Alexander Menshikov confirm that the “architect from St Petersburg” was heading the construction of the city gates at least in 1705. Moreover, Peter I probably personally revised the design for the sculptural programme, demanding the figure of Paul the Apostle be set above the gates. The citations of these and other relevant sources were published by the recent biographer of Trezzini Konstantin Malinovsky, attracting the attention of the author of the present paper. Partly because of misinterpretations of earlier Russian authors Malinovski did not manage to reach a conclusion as to whether it was a temporary triumphal arch in the place of the breach, or a real city gate, and if so which gate.

In the Russian State Military Historical Archives in Moscow, among a full set of drawings documenting the fortifications of Narva as of 1728, i.e. shortly after the Great Northern War, there is also one sheet dedicated to the Emperor´s Gate that surprises with its rich sculptural decoration. During the Swedish era the new gate designated for the same location, in between the bastions of Gloria and Honour, was to be called the King´s Gate. Despite the opinion of the eminent Swedish art historian Sten Karling that this gate was built of stone before the 1704 siege, a closer look at the Swedish fortress plans (especially that of 1703 found only recently) makes it highly improbable. It is quite likely that the gate was made by Trezzini out of carved stones collected on the site before the war, which might explain the close resemblance of its architecture to the earlier Swedish fortress gates, especially Karl´s Gate in Riga. The Emperor´s Gate on its own became the prototype for Peter´s Gate at the Peter and Paul Fortress in St Petersburg, as Peter I himself ordered it to be made “resembling the one in Narva”, although the gate itself was throned by St Peter, another of Peter I spiritual patrons. Trezzini, as is now clear, took over almost all the sculptural décor from Narva, expanding on it. The symbolic meanings of the statuary, here only covered at the most basic level, are ripe for further discussion.

Historic, examination and conservation issues relating to Portrait of Gustav Adolf Hollander by Julius Gottfried Siegmund

2024-04-30T11:19:14+00:00

The aim of this article is to provide an overview of historic, technique
and technology reaserch, as well as conservation process, relating to
the oil painting on canvas entitled Portrait of Gustav Adolf Hollander
(formerly known as Portrait of a Man in an Interior), dated to the third
or fourth quarter of the 19th century, by Julius Gottfried Siegmund,
originally from Riga. The painting has belonged to the collection of
the National Museum in Poznan since shortly after the end of World
War II in 1945.
As a result of historical research acomplished during the
conservation and restoration of the painting at the Faculty of
Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art, at the Academy of Fine
Arts in Warsaw in 2021–2022, it was possible to establish the identity
of the man portrayed and the place represented in the painting.
The painting was referred to as Portrait of a Man in an Interior in the
Poznan Museum’s inventory card written in 1985.

During the complex process of conservation work, a detailed study
of painting technique and technology was also carried out. This
allowed for a better understanding and broader knowledge of the
artist’s workshop.
The steps taken aimed at rescuing the historic substance of the
work of art and making the painting present once again in the
consciousness of the viewer, which due to its history is now the
common heritage of Latvians, Germans and Poles.

Dorpater Studentenleben in der Druckgraphik als Teil der deutschbaltischen Identitätsbildung im 19. Jahrhundert

2024-04-30T11:23:58+00:00

In the 19th century, the return of the German-language university played a crucial role in the education, science, and cultural history of the Russian Empire’s Baltic provinces. The newly established German-language university enjoyed significant autonomy, attracting professors primarily from Germany. Following the German university model, students began forming corporate associations in the early decades of the 19th century. Despite being officially prohibited at the start of the century, the legalisation of student organisations in Tartu in 1855 led to their flourishing over the next few decades.

Nineteenth-century societal developments in Europe brought significant changes in communication. Print graphics primarily drove visual aspects during the first half of the century. Technological advancements allowed for more extensive and affordable print runs, facilitating wider distribution of images and enabling authors as well as publishers to respond swiftly to public needs and expectations. These images depicted local life and prominent buildings, contributing to developing national identities in 19th-century Europe by fostering patriotic sentiments and regional self-awareness. Tartu emerged as a local centre for print graphics in the second quarter of the 19th century. Initially, engravers and artists focused on portraying new university buildings, but from the 1850s onwards, they also began depicting colourful student traditions. Given that Baltic-German fraternities played a significant role in Tartu student life, the customs and lifestyle of Tartu students were portrayed. These printed images of student life in Tartu were created for broader audiences in elegant albums, or for circulation within the narrower circle of fraternity members and alumni.

An exciting and little-known example of this is Ludwig Ulmann’s picture series from 1873, created for the 50th anniversary of the Tartu Baltic-German student fraternity Fraternitas Rigensis. The series provides a rare glimpse into the self-reflection of 19th-century Tartu fraternities. Although Ulmann, an amateur artist, approached the theme with satirical and comical ease, a closer analysis reveals the rich traditions within the Baltic-German fraternities. Most selected scenes are based on historical student practices, local personalities, or events. However, Ulmann also drew inspiration from the famous programmatic Wilhelm von Kaulbach mural in Berlin’s Neues Museum, cleverly incorporating elements from classical art into his work.

In the local visual culture of the 19th Century, Tartu University quickly found its place as a distinct theme. The dissemination of these images among educated German minorities in all three Baltic provinces reinforced Tartu University's image as a unifying force in Baltic-German society. The Imperial University of Tartu served as a natural and efficient platform for the local German-educated intelligentsia, and its students and alumni quickly developed a shared mentality. More specifically, the Baltic-German student fraternities operating at Tartu University actively supported local German cultural and intellectual self-awareness, particularly the more conservative and preservative wing. In this way, the printed graphics depicting student life in Tartu are now primarily significant and poignant testimonies of the former glory days of the Baltic-German fraternities.

Six pictures of artist Carl Siegmund Walther's home in Karja Street, Tallinn

2024-04-30T11:26:09+00:00

Imagined Past and Future: Sustainability and Museums in the Anthropocene

2024-04-30T11:30:37+00:00

The purpose of this article is to analyse how the definition of a new
geological era affects museums. First, we will give an overview
of the development of the concept of the Anthropocene and its
connections with museums. One of the most obvious responses of
museums to the Anthropocene is the concept of sustainable or green museums.

It is a very extensive topic, of which we chose only one part,
specifically exhibitions, for analysis. As a case study, we took the If
Boxes Could Talk… exhibition in Tartu City History Museums, which
was completed as part of the Sustainable and Sustaining Exhibition
continuing education course at the Pallas University of Applied
Sciences. The exhibition explored, on the one hand, the application of
sustainability ideas in the preparation of a practical exhibition and,
on the other hand, the mechanisms of creating cultural sustainability
using the model of artificial cultures.
Anthropocene is a term that captures extremely important aspects
of the modern world. The central idea of the Anthropocene is the
inseparability of man as a biological being, nature, technology, and
culture. Man himself is both part of nature and a creator of culture,
a changer of nature, and a victim of technology. In fact, there is no
natural environment that has not been transformed by mankind,
either on Earth or even in near space. Sustainability and consideration
of the environment are deemed to be areas that ensure the seriousness
of museums in the 21st century. If we line up the most pressing
problems of the present time, we get quite a long list: climate change,
the price of energy, war in the middle of Europe, the recession, the
pandemic, and the rise of militant nationalism. Apparently, this
alarming list can be extended even further. The cluster crisis affects
different aspects of the environment and society and naturally also
affects museums, where sustainability is both a requirement and a
necessity.
Designing a sustainable world is, first of all, related to large-scale
cultural change. It is not news that a whole series of norms and
values characteristic of Western culture are such that they do not
fit into a sustainable world and are obviously the main obstacle to
the development of such a society. The expectation of continuous
economic growth, the desire for an increasingly better and more
abundant life, the expectation of continuous renewal, and the
glorification of success and competition are still the basic values of
our culture. To ensure sustainable development, changing people’s
values and behaviours, i.e., culture, is considered one of the key issues.
Changing culture is a difficult and confusing task, as culture tends
to be inert and rather difficult to change. People want to preserve
existing ideas, values, and traditions. Fortunately, the situation is not
completely hopeless. The solution is a completely different approach

to the whole bundle of problems. Instead of changing culture, we
have to create artificial cultures that meet our wants and needs. It is
a radically different solution to the task of culture change. Museums
have great potential to become leaders of cultural change. People trust
museums and consider them authoritative institutions. However,
how to start creating sustainable cultures is still open for the time
being. We started by telling stories. We used the concept of artificial
culture to describe purposeful cultural change. Artificial culture
offers a new conceptual approach to dealing with and practical
implementation of cultural change. Instead of changing the existing
culture, the focus is on creating a new culture. Artificial cultures
have great potential to solve sustainability problems, as they work
by changing people’s values and cultures, which are very often the
cause of the problems.