Brown lacy shawl of Empress Elisabeth

From 23rd March the Empress’ games collection and box of paints will be put back on display in the “The Girl” room. Visitors will also be delighted by her chemise and the charming cream silk children’s ankle boots with embroidered imperial crown.

In the “Flight” area the ermine ensemble will be removed for conservational reasons and will be replaced by the Empress’ white bathrobe. This is decorated with embroidered red trim and a crowned dolphin, also embroidered in red, and was made for Elisabeth’s personal use in Achilleion.

However, the highlight of the textiles display will be a brown lacy shawl which was once owned by the Empress. Like so many textiles intended for personal use, this item of clothing has passed through many hands. Passed on by Countess Horty, Obersthofmeisterin (Mistress of the Robes) to Empress Zita, the shawl was then privately owned, and was finally acquired by the SKB in 1999.

The IKEA Phenomenon

Billy and Ivar – the infinitely extendable shelving systems that have become a feature of almost every home. The furniture store from Sweden that adresses its customers informally and gives its furniture names has like no other changed the way of life and home enviroment of the people of Europe in the last 50 years.

The spring exhibition at the Imperia Furniture Collection uses around 100 exhibits to relate the story of the one-man business that became IKEA, presenting the designs in the context of the history of design.

30 non-IKEA items of furniture provide a comparison with the works of other designers. A separate section is devoted to “IKEA Hacks” (creative transformation) on the topic of lighting.

The exhibition presents IKEA furniture designs from the 1950s to the present  and is broken down into 14 stations.

An exhibition in cooperation with Die Neue Sammlung – The international Design Museum Munich with the support of the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg and IKEA Austria.

Brief information

Curating Markus Laumann

Exhibition Design Walking Chair Design Studio

Duration 9 April – 11 July 2010; Tue – Sun 10 am –6 pm

Admission charges
€ 6,90 – Adults
€ 5,50 – Students (aged 19-25) and senior citizens (60+)
€ 4,50 – Children (aged 6-18)
Reduction of € 1.50 for IKEA Family Club Members

Click here for more information to the exhibition “The IKEA Phenomenon”

Empress Elisabeth, Franz X. Winterhalter, 1865

One of the most famous portrait paintings by Franz Xaver Winterhalter depicts the then 28-year-old Empress Elisabeth in full gala dress with diamond stars in her hair. These splendid and oft-imitated stars were made in different styles: with eight or ten points, and with or without pearls.

Belated reappearance

One of the set of ten-pointed stars with pearls at the centre was made available as a private loan for the great Empress Elisabeth Exhibition in 1998 in Schönbrunn Palace, but disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Ten years later the star reappeared in Canada and again went back to Austria in 2008. It is now being bought by Schloss Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H.

From January live

Since 27th January 2010 this original piece of jewellery, which is also depicted in a portrait of the Empress by Carl Höflmayer, is presented in its own high-security display cabinet as a permanent exhibit at the Sisi Museum.

Renovation of the Great Gallery

In addition to our usual wide-ranging offers and attractions here at Schönbrunn Palace, from February 2010, as visitors make the usual tour of the State Rooms and the Great Gallery, we will be able to offer them a unique and fascinating opportunity to view working practices and restoration techniques involved in maintaining historical treasures. This is a field in which Schönbrunn Palace is internationally acclaimed for its pioneering role.

For the first time in over 100 years the gilding and the precious ceiling frescoes in the Great Gallery will be cleaned, reworked and – where necessary –retouched step by step. The work will cost an estimated € 2.6 million, and will continue until the end of 2012. The building substance of the walls will be fortified and then the historic white polished stucco finish will be reconstructed. Our visitors will be able to watch as, step by step, the Great Gallery gradually regains its original brilliance.

Renovation in two stages

In order to maintain the already magnificent overall impression of the Great Gallery throughout the work, these renovations will be carried out in two stages and with maximum consideration for our visitors. Work will begin on the western side, and scaffolding and a working platform will be erected against the walls and ceiling in the area from the Lantern Room halfway along the Great Gallery. Visitors will still have access to an area, which is over six metres wide. Photorealistic illustrations of the walls and frescoes will be mounted on the dust protection covers, so that the visiting experience is unaffected and a graphic illustration of the frescoes available at all times. During 2011 the restoration work will move to the eastern half of the Gallery.

The famous chandeliers will both remain visible and lit throughout the duration of the renovation works.

In order to avoid inconvenience to our visitors, mounting and dismantling of the scaffolding will take place outside of opening hours, during the night. Windows into the areas where our conservators are at work will provide visitors with new, surprising and exclusive views of the work being carried out. Interesting information about the building-site experience will be provided on additional notice boards.

We will continue to keep our visitors informed of the current situation. We apologise for the inconvenience and look forward to welcoming many interested visitors.

When it comes to its appearance, Schönbrunn Palace has many noticeable features. One particularly eye-catching feature is its colour: a bright yellow, which is inextricably linked with the palace by virtue of its name.

Strictly speaking, Schönbrunn Yellow is simply gold ochre, a rusty colour that can appear either lighter or darker, depending upon how it is mixed with chalk. However, the Habsburg’s “little joke” of painting not just their Summer Residence in Vienna, but also all official buildings, in Schönbrunn Yellow, as well as the willingness with which the bourgeoisie adopted this “fashion”, mean that since the end of the monarchy in 1918, if, indeed, not before, this colour has become world famous. In fact it has become something of a legend.

Legends always carry a hint of the mysterious with them, and Schönbrunn Yellow is no exception with its suitably interesting history. Its appearance alone has been extremely changeable over the centuries.

Ochre was always the key ingredient, but it is a natural pigment and therefore extremely changeable depending on the source and preparation. In the course of the numerous extension and renovation phases of the palace, it showed off its many different shades.

Colour schemes

Current knowledge and tests in the laboratories of the Austrian Bundesdenkmalamt (Federal Office for the Care of Monuments) tell us that during the first phase of building, under Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries,  the palace façade was a bright red (brick colour) and off-white.

During the large scale extensions and renovations for Empress Maria Theresa (from 1743) under Nikolaus Pacassi, the palace was first painted a dark ochre with white outlines. This was soon replaced with a light golden yellow shade of ochre with light grey outlines. In 1780 under Emperor Joseph II, Schönbrunn Palace was given a still lighter ochre coloured façade (with a slight pink tint) with white or pale beige outlines.

In yet another renovation phase in the early 19th century under Johann Aman, Schönbrunn Palace was decorated in a monochrome sandstone colour which had a slightly greeenish tinge. And then there was a reversion to the gold ochre colour which had been used under Empress Maria Theresia, and the painting in the now typical Schönbrunn Yellow began; a two-colour scheme, with dark rectangular surfaces and lighter coloured outlines.

Origins

Ochre’s colourful appearance over the centuries is linked to various facts and stories about its origins and the reasons why it came to be used.

In general a coat of paint is used in place of expensive materials (usually stone) and has the advantage that it allows the introduction of certain stylistic elements. Because of its characteristic qualities, gold ochre, preferably from France or Italy, had been especially popular for prestigious buildings since the Baroque era. However, it was also expensive. The ochre used at Schönbrunn came from Bohemia, where the Habsburgs had supply pits. So was this a question of thrift, or perhaps an astute move to boost the economy?

Colour mixing

Last, but not least, attempts to define Schönbrunn Yellow with a single formula have only resulted in approximations. Time and weathering have left their mark. In general, in earlier renovations, the existing shade was used to determine the colour for the new coat of paint, taking no account of how it had been affected by environmental factors. Consequently, shades which were once much lighter have grown darker with each renovation. In contrast to this, the current colour selection for Schönbrunn Palace is based on the lighter Schönbrunn Yellow shade used in the first half of the 19th century.

A colour value system developed in Sweden provides us with helpful guidelines. According to the Natural Colour System, the values for the lighter Schönbrunn Yellow used today are between S 0510-Y 20 R and S0510-Y 10 R. and for the current darker shade between S0450-Y 10 R and S 0530_Y 10 R.

The high refractive index of the traditional crystalline chalk-based paints, like those which are now being used in renovation work at Schönbrunn Palace, means that, depending how the light falls on it, the colour can appear more or less intense, sometimes appearing to have a colder, sometimes a warmer colour value. By contrast, silicate-based paints are easier to apply, but lack the “shine” of chalk-based ones; they give stronger more uniform coverage, making them “dull”.

When redecorating at home it is always worth trying a colour sample. The same applies to large-scale restorations, and is just what the experts at Schönbrunn do.