Im Dienst von Fursten und Reformation. Fassadenmalerei an den Schlossern in Dresden und Neuburg an der Donau im 16.Jahrhundert.

Ulrike Heckner. (Kunstwissenschaftliche Studien, 64.) Munich and Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 1995. 185 pls. + 228 pp. DM 128. ISBN: n.a.

This book, which is based upon the author's 1993 doctoral dissertation, focuses on decorative programs at two German Protestant courts in the mid- to late sixteenth century. Its task is the reconstruction of both altered and no longer extant decorations at the ducal palaces of Dresden and Neuburg an der Donau, as well as the exploration of their meaning. The facades of the Dresden Moritzbau (1550-1555), Stallhof (1587-91) and Kleiner Schlosshof (1590-1594), and of the west wing of the courtyard of the Neuburger Schloss were given ornamental and historiated decoration. The decorative media include painting, sculpturai relief, and most commonly sgraffito, an originally Italian technique by which linear designs were scratched through layers of colored plaster. Useful documentation is presented on the German and Italian artists involved with these projects, among them Hans Schroer the Elder, Michael Treuding the Elder, and Gabriel and Benedikt Tola. Their work is set against the broader context of contemporary facades at the palaces in Berlin, Weimar, and Innsbruck.

The subjects of Heckner's study are treated not only as artistic monuments, but also as documents of the Reformation in the German courts and as reflections of court ceremony, noble genealogy, and ducal ambition. While the biblical scenes which decorated the Dresden Moritzbau are discussed as a Lutheran typological program, those at Neuburg, which include the stories of Esther and Joseph, are interpreted as commentaries on freedom of religion and persecution - i.e., topical themes in the time of Dukes Moritz of Saxony and Philipp Ludwig of Pfalz-Neuburg. The ill-fated Ottheinrich, who in 1546 lost his dukedom and went into exile for religious reasons, is brought into this discussion on the grounds of his familial and confessional links with Philipp Ludwig, and his patronage of a similarly decorated palace in Heidelberg, the Ottheinrichbau. Finally, the Triumphal Procession and Hercules Cycles created in Dresden for Elector Christian I reveal the Elector's identification with imperial themes and are clear prototypes for later Herculean iconography at the court of Saxony (157).

The archaeological aspects of Heckner's book are meticulous and provide a good foundation for her interpretative discussions. In particular, Heckner's reconstruction of the Dresden Palace greatly facilitates the study of a monument that was destroyed in 1945. The theories regarding the meanings of the decorations could be explored more extensively and perhaps more critically with references to the dukes' other art patronage and to decorative programs in Catholic contexts.

The book contains numerous illustrations of all of the projects, including lost architects' models and sixteenth- and seventeenth-century prints. These images convey much information about the original appearances of the buildings and the roles that their ornate facades played in court spectacle. The appendices, which present all relevant documents, and the extensive bibliography further enhance the book's value for scholars of late Renaissance architecture.

DOROTHY LIMOUZE St. Lawrence University