Salomon Kleiner was primarily concerned with producing impressive compositions, not faithful likenesses. Despite this freehand approach, his views of Vienna in the 1720s and 1730s are an invaluable source of information about the baroque gardens of the imperial city, many of which have suffered significant decay or have been lost altogether. In these views, the city and the surrounding landscape stand in contrast with one another, while views beyond the garden are generally treated as mere vignettes that were meant to serve as points of orientation. The gardens, as seen in foreground, are laid out in accordance with the French baroque fashion. The conservative tastes of the imperial court accounted for the endurance of this formal style long after it had been superseded by the English landscape garden in the rest of central Europe.
At left in this image is the Liechtenstein Garden Palace; in the background is the Spanish Hospital and the church of Santa Maria de Mercede.
Image Source
- Kleiner, Salomon. Viererleÿ Vorstellungen angenehm- und zierlicher Grundrisse folgender Lustgärten und Prospecten, so ausser der Residenz-Stadt Wienn zu finden : nemlich, 1. der Kaÿserl. Favorite, 2. ihrer Hochfürstl. Durchl. võ Schwarzenberg, 3. ihrer Hochfürstl. durchl. võ Lichtenstein, u. 4. ihrer Hoch-Gräffl. Excellenz võ Althan. Augsburg: Verlegt u. zu finden beÿ Johann Andreas Pfeffel . . ., 1735.
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