!!!Goldschmiedekunst

Goldsmithery: The Archdiocese of Salzburg is the only region within 
the borders of today´s Austria where evidence has been found 
that artistic goldsmithery was already practiced during the early and 
high Middle Ages. After a first flowering during the 8%%sup th/%  and 
9%%sup th/%  centuries ( Tassilo Chalice, Kremsmuenster abbey), a 
second upswing occurred between 1150 and 1250 (Chalice of Saint Peter, 
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; reliquary cross, Zwettl abbey; 
portable altar of Gurk, Klagenfurt). Art historians have no evidence 
of any important production-site on Babenberg territory. Pieces from 
the Babenberg era which are nowadays exhibited in Austrian museums 
were produced in various European countries (e.g.  Verdun altar, 
Belgium: retable by Nicholas of Verdun, now at Klosterneuburg abbey; 
Verona: 7-armed candelabrum, Klosterneuburg abbey; Lower Saxony: 
Wilten chalice, Kunsthistorisches Museum; Lower Saxony or England: 
reliquary cross, Kremsmuenster abbey; France: processional cross at 
Bartholomaeberg, province of Vorarlberg.

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Until the 14%%sup th/%  century, pieces crafted in Alpine regions were 
produced in the Langobard style (e.g. gilded copper panels, 
Voecklabruck; reliquary in the form of a head, Melk). It was only then 
that goldsmiths began to be influenced by the Gothic style. Salzburg 
(around 1300: Chalice of Rupertus, Salzburg Dommuseum) and Vienna were 
the centres of goldsmithery in the 14%%sup th/%  century. Vienna 
goldsmiths were influenced by the style of goldsmiths from the Upper 
Rhine region, Germany (1331, supplementary panels for the Verdun 
altar), northern Italy and Bohemia (cross of Melk, 1362). The first 
set of regulations for Vienna guild of goldsmiths was issued in 1366 
(last amendment: 1775). Under Friedrich III and Maximilian I, court 
goldsmiths, influenced by the style and technique of craftsmen from 
Nuremberg and Burgundy produced important secular and religious pieces 
in Vienna: Reliquaries, crosses, monstrances (church of Sankt 
Leonhard, Tamsweg; Hall in Tirol, Vienna Cathedral Treasury), chalices 
(church of Sankt Peter, Salzburg; Tamsweg; Brixlegg; Sankt Sigismund 
im Pustertal; Klosterneuburg). Magnificent secular piece: Vessel of 
Corvinus, Wiener Neustadt. Only a few pieces from the 16%%sup th/%  
century still exist today. The centres of goldsmithery were the 
princely residences of Graz and Innsbruck as well as Salzburg and 
Vienna.

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During the Renaissance period, especially during the reign of Rudolf 
II, goldsmiths were influenced by artists from Southern Germany and 
Italy. Prague was established as the centre of goldsmithery, and 
artists from all over Europe came to work in the court workshops of 
Rudolf II (1602:  imperial crown). It was only by the end of the 
17%%sup th/%  century that Vienna again established itself as the 
centre of goldsmithery in Austria. Taking pieces from France and 
Southern Germany as examples, Austrian craftsmen produced religious 
and secular gold objects. It was mainly the nobility and the church 
that ordered art objects, sometimes to the designs of famous 
architects (J. B. Fischer von Erlach, M. Steinl). Two of the most 
famous and influential Viennese goldsmiths were J. B. Kaenischbauer 
(1660-1739) and J. Moser (during the reign of Maria Theresia). 
Kaenischbauer´s "sun monstrance" for the church of Maria Loreto 
in Prague strongly influenced generations of goldsmiths after him. 
Moser´s main works were the Kolomani monstrance, 1752 (Melk 
Abbey) and the Sonnenberg monstrance, 1762. A. Domek produced the most 
beautiful gold tableware for the breakfast table of Maria Theresia as 
well as gold combs and brushes for her dressing table (most important 
secular gold objects of the epoch). In Graz it was L. Vogtner 
(monstrance for the church of Saint Georgen, near Wildon), F. 
Pfaffinger (monstrance for Graz cathedral) and A. Roemmer (silver 
decorations for the main altar at the Mariahilf chapel of the 
Minorites) who created beautiful pieces of gold work. During the 
Napoleonic Wars decrees were issued that imposed new rules and 
regulations on goldsmiths (1806, 1810), and forced them to pay high 
taxes and put hallmarks on their gold articles. Many workshops had to 
close down and the guild of goldsmithery was weakened. After 1830 it 
was especially the workshops in Vienna (e.g. K. and R. Wallnoefer, J. 
Wiesner, W. J. Swoboda, J. H. Koechert) that were re-established and 
produced high quality goods that sold very well. Machine production 
for the manufacturing of silver articles was also introduced (S. 
Maderhofer, A. J. Wuerth). The School of Arts and Crafts at the 
Austrian Museum of Art and Industry gave new incentives to the guild 
of goldsmiths and the "Viennese Style" was established in 1867. Until 
World War I, articles produced by the Klinkosch company were very 
popular. Many artists who used gold as a material for their designs 
worked with the  Wiener Werkstaette, which was partly inspired by 
Secessionism. J.  Hoffmann and K.  Moser designed pieces of art in a 
strict and highly geometrical style, while D.  Peche designed pieces 
in an abundance of forms and shapes. Indeed it was the products of 
Wiener Werkstaette that set very high standards in terms of design and 
craftsmanship between 1918 and 1938 and again after 1945.

!Literature
G. Sakrale und profane Kunstwerke aus der Steiermark, 
exhibition catalogue, Graz 1961; Renaissance in Oesterreich, 
exhibition catalogue, Schallaburg 1974; W. Neuwirth, Lexikon Wiener 
Gold- und Silberschmiede und ihre Punzen 1867-1922, 2 vols., 
1976/77; B. Wild, Der Goldschmied J. Moser und die Wiener 
Goldschmiedekunst des 18%%sup th/%  Jahrhundert, doctoral thesis, 
Vienna 1982; Gold + Silber. Kostbarkeiten aus Salzburg, exhibition 
catalogue, Salzburg 1984; S. Krenn, Studien zur Wiener 
Goldschmiedekunst des 14. Jahrhunderts, doctoral thesis, Vienna 1984; 
H. Fillitz and M. Pippal, Schatzkunst, 1987; H. Pickl-Herk, Der Grazer 
Goldschmied F. Pfaffinger (1693-1763): ein Beitrag zur steirischen 
Goldschmiedekunst in der 1. Haelfte des 18. Jahrhunderts, 
doctoral thesis, Graz 1988; W. Neuwirth, Wiener Silber 1780-1866, 
2 vols., 1988/89.


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