II. - Schloss Schwetzingen

II.
Fig. 9: “Solomon receiving the
plans of the Temple”, illustration
from J.J. Scheuchzer, Physica
Sacra Iconibus Illustrata,
Augsburg-Ulm, 1731 (From: W.
Kirk MacNulty, Freemasonry.
A Journey through Ritual and
Symbol, London 1991, p. 40).
Fig. 10: “Temple de la Sagesse
et de la vertu”, German Masonic
print, c.1770 (From: A. van de
Sande, Vrijmetselarij in de Lage
Landen, Zutphen 1995, p. 168).
26
II. Schwetzingen – A Prince Elector’s Eighteenth-Century Summer Residence
however, saying who is who. The trellises
serving as scenery originally had their place
on the trapezoid “stage”. A picturesque
backdrop is provided by a rocky cliff, with
two naiads resting on it. Between them they
hold an urn from which Hippocrene, the well
of inspiration, pours forth, gushing down a
cascade and into a basin. Above them Apollo
stands crowned with laurel and playing his
lyre in a towering monopteros. The cliff is
actually a two-storey building of sandstone
and tuff; from inside the visitor can enjoy fi ne
views, and on the west side there is a balcony.
Garden theatres became a popular feature in
Baroque gardens. The one at Schwetzingen
is remarkable not only for the uncommon
quality of its layout and decoration; it is also
one of only a few surviving garden theatres in
Europe.
Adjoining the natural theatre to the north
is the bathhouse with the “water-spouting
birds” and the diorama. It is possible that
the whole thing, an illustration of a fable
by Aesop, is from Lorraine, as there used to
be a similar installation in the park of La
Malgrange. An eagle-owl that has caught a
small bird is sitting in an oval basin. Above
them is a circle of different birds all spitting
water at the predator. Originally the birds
were made of beaten sheet iron and painted,
and alternated with fl owers and greenery.
East and west of the basin are the two agate
cabinets, small rooms for resting and enjoying
the view, fl anked by aviaries. Agates and
other semiprecious stones, coloured glass and
pebble mosaics add to the cabinets’ fanciful
character. Conrad Linck created the sandstone
reliefs for the gables, and lead reliefs with
gallant scenes representing the seasons for
the interior. To the north was the diorama,
another small building providing a point de
vue – a cavelike trompe-l’oeil painted by Court
Painter Ferdinand Kobell that appears to offer
a view of an ideal landscape. No less than
eleven arrangements of this type are known
to have existed in the gardens of Louis XIV
at Versailles, but the one at Schwetzingen is
among the very few still in existence today.
The Landscape Garden
The changing attitude towards nature found
expression in the most recent part of the garden,
laid out in accordance with the principles
of the jardin anglo-chinois. 22 Picturesque views
of an ideal landscape seemingly having be-
22 See also: Monique Mosser, “Paradoxe Architekturen oder
kleiner Traktat über die fabriques”, in: Monique Mosser/
Georges Teyssot, Die Gartenkunst des Abendlandes. Von der
Renaissance bis zur Gegenwart, Stuttgart 1993 (Milano 1990),
pp. 259 -276.