20 March 2023

Insights into Vienna: Fashion.at publisher Karin Sawetz visited the exhibition 'Cast For Eternity' in the Garden Palace Liechtenstein

Fashion.at visited the second edition of the exhibition series 'March at the Palace' at the Liechtenstein Garden Palace, which is on view from 1st to 31st March. Last year, the first 'March at the Palace' exhibition was titled 'The Constant Prince' and featured works by landscape painters such as Canaletto and portraits of the art collector Prince Joseph Wenzel I of Liechtenstein by masters such as Francesco Solimena. Now in its second edition, the exhibition series presents the bronze collections of the Princely Collections. The title 'Cast For Eternity' refers to the material and the use of bronze to represent the eternal glory of a person or the timelessness of mythologies.

The exhibition was well attended as Fashion.at walked through the rooms where bronze works such as the 'Bust of Marcus Aurelius' by Antico or the bronze relief 'Time reveals the truth' by Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi are on display. Many of the visitors navigated the three rooms of the Ladies' Apartments, the Sala Terrena and the Library on the ground floor of the Palace with the practical free A5 booklet in their hands. The bronze works on display are numbered so that you can find more information in the booklet, which is freely available at the entrance. In the booklet texts, the Director of the Princely Collections Vaduz-Vienna, Johann Kräftner, and his team provide information on the art historical context, the artist, the work of art, and the date on which the bronze entered the Liechtenstein Collections. In the case of the 'Bust of Marcus Aurelius' by Antico, the authors point out that the representation reflects the stoic mental attitude of the Roman emperor with reference to his philosophical introspections written down in the 'Meditations'. The bust can be viewed in a video on Instagram.

The bronze relief 'Time Reveals the Truth' (on view at the picture above, right) was commissioned by Prince Johann Adam Andreas I in the 1690s. He gave the artist free rein in the choice of motif. The depiction of 'Time' was inspired by the images of the god Chronos in the ceiling paintings by Antonio Bellucci, which were created for the Prince at the same time.

The free A5 booklet contains text only. Images of the bronze works with texts are published in the catalog (format 21 x 25.5 cm) by Brandstätter Verlag.

Images, from left: Cover of the catalog 'Gegossen für die Ewigkeit. Die Bronzen der Fürsten von Liechtenstein', published by Brandstätter Verlag, Vienna. The cover shows the 'Bust of the Anima Dannata' (bust of the damned soul) by Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi from the early 18th century. In the exhibition it is juxtaposed with the 'Bust of the Anima Beata', the bust of the blessed soul. Right: Picture of Fashion.at publisher Karin Sawetz standing in front of the bronze relief 'Time reveals the truth' by Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi. The photo was taken during a visit to the 'March at the Palace' exhibition 'Cast For Eternity. The Bronzes Of The Princes Of Liechtenstein' on 18 March 2023 at the Liechtenstein Garden Palace.


Editor's tip on the role of metals in capturing moments for eternity in modern photography: Exhibition 'Mining Photography' is on view from 9 March until 29 May 2023 at the Kunst Haus Wien (article).