Herculean Allegory at the Čakovec Old Castle: Commissioner and Context

Abstract

The Museum of Međimurje in Čakovec, situated within the Old Castle Palace, holds an easel painting depicting the demigod Heracles and goddess Athena fighting the Nemean lion, surrounded by personifications and putti. The painting represents a copy of a fresco that was once painted across the ceiling of a monumental staircase that led to the palace’ s upper floors. Both the staircase and the ceiling painting were demolished in the mid-19th century, when the palace was adapted for use as a sugar refinery. The stairwell was built during the second quarter of the 18th century by the then Čakovec estate owner, Countess Anna Maria Althann (1689–1755), who wanted to turn the derelict palace into a representative Baroque residence. According to historical sources, Countess Althann, lady-in-waiting at Emperor Charles VI’ s (r. 1711–1740) court, commissioned the ceiling painting in order to commemorate the occasion when she – assisted by Countess Eleonore Batthyány (1672–1741) and Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736) – dissuaded the Emperor from equalizing the Kingdom of Hungary with other Habsburg hereditary lands in order to ensure the right of succession to a female dynasty member. The article discusses the context of the painting’ s commission, its iconography, allegorical interpretation, comparative examples, and possible models.

Keywords

• Althann family
• Čakovec Old Castle
• ceiling painting
• allegory
• Anton Maria Konrath
• Charles VI
• Pragmatic Sanction