Leopold Kupelwieser´s Fresco Series

In 1847, the Austrian painter Leopold Kupelwieser (1796-1862) was commissioned to execute a fresco cycle in the ceremonial hall of the Statthalterei (Lower Austrian Government Building, Vienna), depicting scenes from Austrian history. While in Germany a number of prominent historical painting series had already been created at the time, this ambitious endeavour was unprecedented in Austria in terms of complexity of the subject, monumentality of scale and choice of technique. Kupelwieser was at the time professor at the Meisterschule for historical painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and credited with reintroducing fresco painting to Austria. He was entrusted with drafting the scheme for all 23 motives himself and laid a chronological axis from the time of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius to the Congress of Vienna in 1815, while concentrating the history of the Hapsburg Empire to events that relate to its "heartlands" Vienna and Lower Austria. This study attempts to comprehend the complexity of this large-scale work of art and focuses on the creative process which is especially well documented in Kupelwiesers artistic heritage kept by the Niederösterreichische Landesmuseum. The main part discusses iconographic aspects of each painting, using pictorial and literary sources as well as pointing out biographical connections and artistic forebears and influences. Based on formal and substantive analysis of the fresco cycle`s scheme, its intrinsic concept of history is examined and put in context of beginning nationalistic and neo absolutistic currents characteristic of the mid-19th century Hapsburg Empire. The extensive catalogue part outlines the work process, including a description of the creation and further use of the cartoons which had been made in preparation of the frescos. These elaborations are based on art technological investigations as well as an evaluation of correspondence, maps, documents and photographs. Kupelwiesers fresco technique could be largely reconstructed based on his fresco samples (modelli) as well as on written sources. The description of Kupelwiesers artistic process is juxtaposed with working methods of German and Austrian painters of the time, especially from the artistic environment of the Nazarenes. The complex interplay between art technology and conceptual statements manifests itself particularly articulate in the focal point of cartoon and fresco where the material used is always a relevant carrier of meaning. Accordingly, this study approaches Kupelwiesers work through the description of the materials he used and the way he processed them. Traces of fabrication and usage on Kupelwieser`s sketches and cartoons were carefully construed, allowing a unique insight into both the conceptual and material developments of the artist`s work.