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‘Artists will here see, that Nations differ no less in their Taste for Architecture, than in Food and Raiment, and, by comparing one with the other, they themselves may make a Judicious choice.’

Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, Entwurff Einer Historischen Architectur, preface.

Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, Entwurff Einer Historischen Architectur: in Abbildung unterschiedener berühmten Gebäude des Alterthums und fremder Völcker; umb aus den Geschicht-büchern, Gedächtnüß-münzen, Ruinen, und eingeholten wahrhafften Abrißen, vor Augen zu stellen (Leipzig, 1725), map.

This map, from Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach’s magisterial work on civil and historical architecture, demonstrates the vast geographical scope of Fischer von Erlach’s enormous undertaking. Divided into five books, the work covers not only the ruins of ancient buildings such as the famed Temple of Solomon at Jerusalem, and the amazing Pyramids of Giza, the imposing Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the gigantic Mausoleum of Hadrian at Rome, but also includes more modern structures, such as Fischer von Erlach’s plans for the Schönbrunn palace at Vienna, as well as other aristocratic palaces and edifices there. It was a work which appealed to architects and antiquarians alike and, as Neville (2007) suggests, may have been influenced by a similar scheme of Christopher Wren’s.

In this image we see Fischer von Erlach’s representation of the famous Süleymaniye Mosque, built at Constantinople (Istanbul) by Sultan Süleyman II (better known as Süleyman the Magnificent, d. 1566). Designed by the renowned architect Mimar Sinan (c.1489-1588), whose skills and long life ensured that he served as chief architect for the Ottoman Sultans Süleyman II, his son Selim II and grandson Murad III, it was the largest mosque in Constantinople, and served as a symbol of Süleyman’s II power. It seems likely that Mimar Sinan consciously mirrored its domes on those of the more famous Byzantine Hagia Sophia and, in turn, its central dome could be viewed as veiled reference to the Dome of the Rock and the Temple of Solomon at Jerusalem.

This image of Mecca, like all the images on this particular webpage, are from Worth’s copy of Fischer von Erlach’s magisterial Entwurff Einer Historischen Architectur… (Leipzig, 1725). Von Erlach was the chief architect at the imperial Austrian court and some of his Viennese designs are explored in this website exhibition : the Schönbrunn Palace and the Palace of Prince Eugene of Savoy at Vienna. However, Fischer von Erlach did not limit himself to compiling a set of prints of his own designs – he was interested in ancient and modern designs of all types. Indeed, Mallgrave (1998) suggests that the Entwurff Einer Historischen Architectur may rightly be considered to be ‘the first attempt to produce a comparative study of world architecture.’ As the images on this webpage demonstrate, his geographical range was vast and it was accompanied by a historical approach which included famous buildings from the ancient world to contemporary times. Fischer von Erlach spent some time in Rome in the 1670s, initially training as a sculptor and then as an architect, and it was there he became part of the circle of antiquarians surrounding Queen Christina of Sweden. The antiquarian interests of the Roman antiquaries may have influenced Fischer Von Erlach’s later focus on ruins in his Entwurff Einer Historischen Architectur but his was not so much a romantic investigation of the past but a spur to the future – such ruins, could, as he explains in his preface, serve as the skeleton on which to cloth new buildings. With this object in mind, he deliberately gives his reader as much historical detail as possible – particularly about the more ancient edifices under discussion. He notes in his preface that his chief aim in assembling depictions of ancient and modern buildings was not so much as a guide for the learned but as an encouragement (and challenge!) to other architects to attempt projects on a similar scale ‘to raise up new Inventions’.

Von Erlach’s book was a massive undertaking. Mallgrave (1998) suggests that he began it in 1705 and by 1712 some seventy-four plates were already ready. His heavy workload of imperial commissions in the succeeding years ensured that the book took longer to complete : a limited edition was published in 1721 at Vienna and a second edition was posthumously published at Leipzig in 1725 – it is the latter edition which is in the Worth Library. Fischer von Erlach describes his magnum opus in terms of an ‘essay’ but its numerous large scale prints ensured that it was a costly endeavour. The inclusion of text in both German and French attracted a wider audience and within a few years an English translation followed (1730). Perhaps one reason for its wide appeal was the sheer range of the buildings delineated and the quality of the plates. Another factor in its success might have been the exotic nature of some of Fischer von Erlach’s images, such as this image of Peking (modern day Beijing), which depicts the imperial court and demonstrates the importance of town planning.

Sources

Dotson, Esther Gordon and Mark Richard Ashton, J. B. Fischer von Erlach. Archtecture as Theater in the Baroque Era (Yale University Press, 2012).

Fischer von Erlach, Johann Bernhard (1656-1723) entry in Eileen Harris, British Architectural Books and Writers 1556-1785 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), 194-196.

Fischer von Erlach, Johann Bernhard, Entwurff Einer Historischen Architectur: in Abbildung unterschiedener berühmten Gebäude des Alterthums und fremder Völcker; umb aus den Geschicht-büchern, Gedächtnüß-münzen, Ruinen, und eingeholten wahrhafften Abrißen, vor Augen zu stellen (Leipzig, 1725).

All English quotations are from Fischer von Erlach, Johann Bernhard, A Plan of Civil and Historical Architecture in the Representation of the Most noted Buildings of Foreign Nations…. Divided into Five Books…. Tr. Thomas Lediard, (London, 1737), 2nd edition. Lediard notes that his translation was initially based on the French translation but on chancing to find a German original he then incorporated as much material as possible.

Mallgrave, H. F. et al, The Mark J. Millard Architectural Collection (Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1998), iii, 45-47,144-148.

Neville, Kristoffer, ‘The Early Reception of Fischer von Erlach’s Entwurff Einer Historischen Architectur in Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 66, no. 2 (2007), 160-175.

Text: Elizabethanne Boran, Librarian of the Edward Worth Library.