2016 Volume 81 Issue 729 Pages 2533-2542
This contribution presents an integrated interpretation of J. B. Fischer von Erlach's architectural works as derived from a synthetic analysis of geometrical forms used in his oeuvre. Methodologically, such empirical analysis first identifies basic geometrical forms in floor plans and traces the process of their modular use in the evolution of designs. Upon verification in the literature, it then arranges floor plans by motive and period, which ultimately allows for identifying the relationship between individual works. Eventually, it may also be applied for identifying relationships between floor plans and fa?ade designs. Based on the understanding that individual designs can always be captured as being part of an evolving group of designs, this analytical method uses schematic drawings for attempting an interpretation of the evolution of space compositions. How did Fischer's oeuvre evolve and how have his works eventually become representative of Austrian Imperial Baroque? This contribution attempts an answer to these questions by illustrating the characteristics of Fischer's space composition.
A first result of the said analysis, this research identifies Gian Lorenzo Bernini's First Louvre Project, Louis Le Vau's Ch?teau du Vaux-le-Vicomte and the ancient Roman Temple of Minerva Medica as important points of departure. The starting point of Fischer's own works, the Ahnensaal of Chateau Vranow, transforms the earlier circle motif into an ellipsis and completes the design by integrating daylight obtained through dome windows. This observation allows interpreting the First Louvre Project and Château du Vaux-le-Vicomte as the origins of Fischer's geometrical compositions. All through the mid-period of his oeuvre this was the base on which he created a wide variety of space compositions with the following characteristics: displaying inner geometrical composition on the outside, removing of separations between forms, amalgamation of ellipsis and rectangle, and attempting the combination of ellipsis and cross. In these attempts, one can identify influences from other architects such as Francesco Borromini and Carlo Fontana. In Fischer's late period, the Karlskirche and Hofbibliothek designs combine the experimenting with forms of the mid-period with the elliptic spaces of his early period. As these two works are part of his imperial designs, they embody a multitude of characteristics in their architectural expression. Among these characteristics, this research particularly stresses the amalgamation of ellipses and geometrical forms and the influence of insights Fischer obtained during the concurrent edition of his Entwurf einer historischen Architektur (1721).
Hans Sedlmayr, the first and foremost Fischer scholar, denied any possible influence of Borromini on Fischer's works in his 1956 “J. B. Fischer von Erlach” thus recanting his own 1925 PhD thesis. In contrast, this research traces important influences of both Bernini and Borromini. Accordingly, the author believes that there was no necessity of such recanting. In his view, Sedlmayr eventually happened to ignore Bernini's influence while possibly overestimating that of Borromini's.
