servalpe
Schönbrunn Palace from Neptune Fountain
© 2005-2010 Servalpe. Photos are copyrighted. All rights reserved. Pictures can not be used without explicit permission by the creator.
Localization:
Schönbrunn Palace together with its ancillary buildings and extensive park is by virtue of its long and colourful history one of the most important cultural monuments in Austria. Scheduled as a listed monument, the whole ensemble, including the palace, the park with its numerous architectural features, fountains and statues and not least the zoo – the oldest of its kind in the world – was placed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List in 1996.
In the possession of the Habsburg dynasty since Maximilian II, the palace passed to the ownership of the Republic of Austria at the end of the monarchy in 1918 and was subsequently administered by the Schlosshauptmannschaft Schönbrunn. In 1992 the Schloss Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H. (SKB) was founded and entrusted with the administration of the palace as a modern, limited-liability company. The duties of the SKB include the exploitation of its many resources in fulfilling its role as a cultural and touristic amenity as well as the obligation to conserve and revitalise this unique historical and art-historical gem. As its primary duties, preservation and restoration have to be financed by the SKB from its own resources without recourse to state subsidies.
The Neptune Fountain
Sited at the foot of the hill behind the palace and designed as the crowning element of the Great Parterre is the Neptune Fountain. It was conceived as part of the overall design of the gardens and park commissioned by Maria Theresa in the 1770s. Excavations for the pool began in 1776 and the fountain was completed four years later, just before the death of the empress. It was very probably designed by Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg, while the sculptural group of Sterzing marble was executed by Wilhelm Beyer.
A retaining wall curving back into the slope of the hill, its balustrade crowned with vases, forms the back wall of the vast basin. At the centre the wall is interrupted by a projecting, semi-oval plinth from which rises a rocky landscape peopled with the sea-god Neptune and his entourage. Retaining wall and plinth are articulated by blind panels, those on the plinth being decorated with masks, while the vertical elements separating them are embellished with garlands.
At the centre of the figural group above a rocky grotto stands Neptune in a shell-shaped chariot, his trident in his hand. To his left is a nymph, while on his right kneels the sea-goddess Thetis, entreating Neptune to favour the voyage of her son, Achilles, who has set off to conquer Troy. Frolicking at the foot of the grotto are the Tritons, creatures who are half-man and half-fish, and belong to Neptune's entourage. They hold conch shell trumpets with which they can inspire fear in both man and beast, and are restraining the hippocampi or sea-horses who draw Neptune's chariot across the seas.
Neptune driving across the seas in dominion over the watery element is a common motif in 16th to 18th-century art, being used as a symbol for monarchs controlling the destiny of their nations. The figural group was originally free-standing, but a screen of trees was planted behind it during the 19th century to provide a foil.
Exif Data:
Canon Ixus 400 @ 7.4 mm, f7.1, 1/250s , ISO100
Picture from 1 handheld exposure.
Processing:
Lightroom for catalog > Photomerge for creating the panorama + Color adjusments + Topaz Adjust and Detail + Noiseware + Sharpening at PS.
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Schönbrunn Palace from Neptune Fountain
© 2005-2010 Servalpe. Photos are copyrighted. All rights reserved. Pictures can not be used without explicit permission by the creator.
Localization:
Schönbrunn Palace together with its ancillary buildings and extensive park is by virtue of its long and colourful history one of the most important cultural monuments in Austria. Scheduled as a listed monument, the whole ensemble, including the palace, the park with its numerous architectural features, fountains and statues and not least the zoo – the oldest of its kind in the world – was placed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List in 1996.
In the possession of the Habsburg dynasty since Maximilian II, the palace passed to the ownership of the Republic of Austria at the end of the monarchy in 1918 and was subsequently administered by the Schlosshauptmannschaft Schönbrunn. In 1992 the Schloss Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H. (SKB) was founded and entrusted with the administration of the palace as a modern, limited-liability company. The duties of the SKB include the exploitation of its many resources in fulfilling its role as a cultural and touristic amenity as well as the obligation to conserve and revitalise this unique historical and art-historical gem. As its primary duties, preservation and restoration have to be financed by the SKB from its own resources without recourse to state subsidies.
The Neptune Fountain
Sited at the foot of the hill behind the palace and designed as the crowning element of the Great Parterre is the Neptune Fountain. It was conceived as part of the overall design of the gardens and park commissioned by Maria Theresa in the 1770s. Excavations for the pool began in 1776 and the fountain was completed four years later, just before the death of the empress. It was very probably designed by Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg, while the sculptural group of Sterzing marble was executed by Wilhelm Beyer.
A retaining wall curving back into the slope of the hill, its balustrade crowned with vases, forms the back wall of the vast basin. At the centre the wall is interrupted by a projecting, semi-oval plinth from which rises a rocky landscape peopled with the sea-god Neptune and his entourage. Retaining wall and plinth are articulated by blind panels, those on the plinth being decorated with masks, while the vertical elements separating them are embellished with garlands.
At the centre of the figural group above a rocky grotto stands Neptune in a shell-shaped chariot, his trident in his hand. To his left is a nymph, while on his right kneels the sea-goddess Thetis, entreating Neptune to favour the voyage of her son, Achilles, who has set off to conquer Troy. Frolicking at the foot of the grotto are the Tritons, creatures who are half-man and half-fish, and belong to Neptune's entourage. They hold conch shell trumpets with which they can inspire fear in both man and beast, and are restraining the hippocampi or sea-horses who draw Neptune's chariot across the seas.
Neptune driving across the seas in dominion over the watery element is a common motif in 16th to 18th-century art, being used as a symbol for monarchs controlling the destiny of their nations. The figural group was originally free-standing, but a screen of trees was planted behind it during the 19th century to provide a foil.
Exif Data:
Canon Ixus 400 @ 7.4 mm, f7.1, 1/250s , ISO100
Picture from 1 handheld exposure.
Processing:
Lightroom for catalog > Photomerge for creating the panorama + Color adjusments + Topaz Adjust and Detail + Noiseware + Sharpening at PS.
Follow me on: