Hunting lodge FALKENLUST in Brühl, Germany | German Rococo interiors | Schloss Falkenlust near Cologne

Hunting lodge FALKENLUST in Brühl, Germany

Hunting lodge FALKENLUST in Brühl

German Rococo interiors 
Schloss Falkenlust near Cologne

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Already for many years I occasionally go with a few students ornamental woodcarving on a fieldtrip. Château Versailles is one of the places where they are looking the most forward to, but this time I have chosen for some beautiful German destinations. 

End of June (2016), it seemed to be a good idea to visit the castles of Brühl, 'Augustusburg Palace and Falkenlust hunting lodge'. Two fine examples of German Rococo with breathtaking Rococo interiors. These two castles are located not so  far from the Belgian border near Cologne. From my hometown Maaseik (in Belgium) it is 1:15h by car.

Hunting lodge Falkenlust

The Prince Elector and Archbishop of Cologne, clemens August (1700-1761), a member of the Bavarian Wittelsbach dynasty, laid the foundation stone for 'Schloss Falkenlust' in 1729. The main reasons for his choice of the site were its beauty and its favourable position for falconry. 

The basic floor-plan and elevations of the main building, and its overall concept, can be attributet to François de Cuvilliés, and the interiors to Michael Leveilly. The hunting lodge was ready for use as early as 1733.

Falkenlust Castle, garden side

Hunting lodge FALKENLUST in Brühl, Germany

A walk trough Falkenlust

The entrance from the courtyard leads into the vestiule. In the niches are statues of nymphes and satyrs, probably by Kirchhoff and Dierix. The nymphs bear symbols of falconry, and the satyrs appear as guardians of the herons which are important for falconry as quarry. In the ceilling: The coat oa arms of Clemens August.

Proceed straight ahead into the salon. The wall covering consists of Dutch wall-tiles from Rotterdam. Above the fireplace is a painting of Clemens August in the uniform of a falconer. The other paintings on the walls show members of the Wittelsbach family.
To the right is the dining room. The wainscoting paintings: Biarelle, around 1745. The plasterwork decoration of the ceilling: Morsegno and Castelli, around 1733. Above the fireplace is a painting of Karl albrecht, the brother of Clemens August and Prince Elector of Bavaria (born in 1697 and crowned as Emperor Karl VII in 1742, died in 1745). The furniture includes two card-tables in coloured scagliola marble.

Falkenlust Brühl

German Rococo interiors |  Schloss Falkenlust near Cologne

To the left of the salon is the (guest's) bedroom, with a ceilling by Castelli and Morsegno, around 1733. Above the fireplace: a painting of Maria Arnalia, the wife of Karl Albrecht.
Return through the vestibule and walk to the right. 
The wardrobe has a wall-covering in leather and dates from 1745. On the side opposite the window, there is a toilet niche behind the right-hand door.


Continue straight ahead, and you will come to the Lacquer Cabinet, which has wooden wainscoting with a lacquer painting of Chinese motifs, sometimes reffered to as Indian. 
Above the fireplace is a portrait of Clemens August in aristocratic dresing gown ( Joseph Vivien, 1725). The ceilling decoration: Artario 1733.

Falkenlust Brühl, Lacquer Cabinet

Returning through the vestibule, you will arrive at the staircase. The walls are covered by more than 10000 dutch tiles from Rotterdam, specially produced for Schloss Falkenlust. They display the Bavarian coat of arms colours of white and blue with initials C.A. on falcon hoods and varous other motifs relating to falconry. The ceilling decoration: Castelli and Morsegno, around 1732, the ceilling painting Laurents de la Roque, 1736.

The upper Apartment

Upper vestibule: 

In the niches: angelic figures (Putti) with falcons and herons. The plinths on which the groups of figures stand show the four Elements (artists: Dierix and Le Clerc, following a model by van Helmont, around 1733). Above the doors are stucco bas-relief figures of a river god and two river goddesses. The ceilling painting shows Aurora and Diana personifying the morning and the evening.

Upper Vestibule, Falkenlust

To the right is the Grand upper Salon, stucco work by Morsegno, 1731/32.
On the right-hand side of the salon is the Cabinet Chinois pour le Café.
The ceiling decoration: Castelli and Morsegno, 1733. Above the fireplace: a portrait of Johann Theodor, Cardinal of Liège and brother of Clemens August, in the uniform of a falconer.
On the left-hand side of the Salon is the bedroom, with a ceiling decoration by Castelli and Morsegno, 1731. In the corners are respresentations of good and bad falconers with their birds. In the middle of the ceiling is a personification of night, in a star-spangled mantle and bat wings, accompanied by bats. A small putto shows the morning star.

German Rococo interiors |  Schloss Falkenlust near Cologne

The portrait above the fireplace is of Clemens August's brother Ferdinand Maria, Duke of Bavaria.
On the wall opposite the windows is a painting of Pope Clements by Georg Desmarées.
Return through the Vestibule, and turn to the right.
Wardrobe with a wall covering in waxcloth, around 1730-40. Continue straight ahead to the mirror Cabinet, mainly designed by Cuvillliés. 
The ceilling decoration is by Artario. This room is mainly furnished with Chinese porselain. The cabinet is given particular mention in the diary of the young Moart, who visited Schloss Falkenlust in 1763.

German rococo, Falkenlust |  The Mirror Cabinet

The Chapel is located outside in the park. It is built in the style of a grotto and took ten years to its completitaion. It was dedicated to Maria aegyptiaca in 1740. The interior is the work of Peter Laporterie.

Schloss Falkenlust, the Chapel

Falkenlust | The interior of the chapel, in the style of a grotto

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100.000 views on YOUTUBE | Carving a Rococo ornament in oak | Patrick Damiaens ornamental Woodcarver from Belgium

Carving a Rococo ornament in oak

100.000 views on YouTube.

Carving a Rococo ornament in oak

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On November 22^nd 2009 I posted my first educational wood carving video on YouTube. The idea behind my YouTubechannel  was to acquaint people with the art of wood carving, traditional craftsmanship, and to highlight the wide and diverse range of applications of  ornamental  woodcarving.

At first I was a bit skeptical about promoting my work on YouTube. I wasn’t immediately convinced about the use and added value of this “new medium”. 

However, gradually this YouTube channel gained more and more popularity across the globe. 

Indeed, YouTube has proven to be a valuable tool, which has enabled me to familiarize people with the métier of wood carving, and the complexity of artisanal craftsmanship.

100.000 views on Youtube

My first youtube movie reached 100.000 views in August 2013, with the educational movie 'Heraldic Woodcarving' and needless to say I was very proud of that. Now a few years later, again another small movie 'Patrick Damiaens at the Museum Vrijhof in Maastricht' reached his 100.000 views. It was published in March 2012.

As the contents of my uploads are strictly of a explorative or educational, rather than of a senseless mainstream nature, I am convinced that reaching 100.000 views is quite an recognition.

This particular video shows the various stages of carving a Rococo ornament carved in oak. I truly enjoy the feedback, and going through the viewer comments.

 Thanks!

 From our youtube channel

'Patrick Damiaens at the Museum Vrijhof in Maastricht'

https://www.patrickdamiaens.info

LINK to our FB page

ROCOCO ORNAMENTAL CARVING | ROCOCO WOODCARVING | Rococo Carving Style

Patrick Damiaens
Ornamental woodcarver 

Rococo Style of Ornament




















ROCOCO WOODCARVING ,Commissioned by the Museum aan het Vrijthof in Maastricht
 
A rococo style ornament for the core collection of the Museum aan het Vrijthof in Maastricht (NL).  
Patrick Damiaens has been a professional woodcarver for 25 years and is well versed in ornamentation and the carving of ornaments. He was exclusively commissioned by the new Museum aan het Vrijhof in Maastricht (NL). 

After careful consideration, the curator of the Museum aan het Vrijthof and several sponsors decided to purchase one of his artworks. This piece is to become a part of the core collection of the Museum, which surely is to be regarded as a great honour. The Museum aan het Vrijthof in Maastricht has recently been renovated and is now three times as large.
The Museum has devoted a section to the arts and crafts of the 18^th century. Interestingly enough it’s not only about the artwork on display. Over the past few months, the entire history of the creation and development of this art piece was captured by a Dutch film crew. 

They will now edit the footage, providing the Museum with an educational film to accompany the artwork. This allows the visitors of the Museum to gain a better understanding of the complexity of Patrick’s profession. The opening of the Museum aan het Vrijthof will take place on 15 March 2012, on the eve of the TEFAF 'European Fine Art Fair', which is also the main sponsor of the Museum.

article in a Belgian newspaper

'The museum Aan het Vrijthof 'in Maastricht (Netherlands)

'Made in Maastricht'

The main focus of Museum aan het Vrijthof is ‘500 Years Made in Maastricht’; 500 years of creativity and enterprise. By means of authentic stories and tangible memories from five centuries of arts and crafts and manufacturing industry, the history of Maastricht’s cultural identity is presented and visualised. The witnesses’ views on the events and conditions of their time express the spirit of the age and allow the visitor to reflect upon history. 

The visitor starts his journey through 500 Years Made in Maastricht in the recent past. He is taken from room to room through time in a reversed chronology, all-in line with the buildings’ history. Each guest will be given an RFID chip (Radio Frequency Identification). This chip traces the exact position of the visitor and can be tuned to the language of preference. The building will respond to the visitor’s presence, without any action required by the visitor. This technique allows you to see and hear bygone times in a subtle and invisible way. 

 

 

Artistic craft during the ancien régime

Around the 1850s, Maastricht is much like it was three centuries earlier with regard to the social and economic viewpoint. The guilds, which were called trades in Maastricht, were flourishing. Knowledge and skills were passed on from teacher to pupil, and consequently maintained and supervised by means of a form of self-regulation. Next to that, the trades offered an interpersonal cohesion between their members. Guild members were sworn members, which implied that they were committed to each other by means of a mutual oath. ‘Sjariteit’, solidarity and cooperation were the key notions. The trades did not only pursue to regulate the professional lives of their members, but also their political, religious, social and private ambitions.

Maastricht

In these days, the Maastricht elite surrounded themselves with the finest furniture, silverware and timepieces in order to hold up their social status and embellish their daily lives. Eighteenth-century Maastricht was a city of artisans d’art, of decorative craftsmen, which we know by name now – except for the furniture makers – as they provided their objects with signs or signatures. Silversmiths, clockmakers and furniture makers, together with their colleagues in the Euregion, have translated the French Regency style in their own specific way and produced silver candleholders by order of the elite, and sometimes even as a series. 

With respect to decorative weaponry, Maastricht weapon makers have been renowned as early as the seventeenth century, a time in which exclusive ivory pistols were sent as gifts to European courts. The eighteenth century has mainly seen oak pistols equipped with subtle and elegant carving, which were worn as a showpiece. 

Text Museum aan het Vrijthof.

Website : http://www.museumaanhetvrijthof.nl

From a block of oak, Patrick created a rococo appliqué with the head of an angel. The design of the ornament – provided on paper by the curator –  was made up in German rococo style. Patrick has endeavoured to create something of great beauty. Height: 33cm. Width: 25cm. Thickness: 5cm. Made of oak. 

The following pictures show a few of the stages of the development process. 

The actual basis, this is our example

There will be a sketch made

  

Sawing with the jigsaw

Shaping the asymmetric palmette

The modeling of the flowers

The modeling of the Putti's head

The Rococo Applique is done

Rococo carving for the Museum at the Vrijthof

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