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• Get to know the other half of The Lobkowicz Collections by touring the Castle’s permanent exhibition, Private Spaces: A Noble Family at Home Test your artistic skills at craft workshops for both children and adults

• Enjoy a variety of sweet and savory treats from the Castle kitchen

• Sample wines from the Roudnice Lobkowicz Winery Relax in the courtyard while listening to entertaining, old-fashioned stories accompanied by barrel organ music

• Take a ride on a carousel in the castle garden

• Visit the birth house of Antonín Dvořák and the Church of St. Andrew, where the famed composer began his career

• Especially for younger visitors: don’t miss Pupa the Juggler, barrel organ theatre at the courtyard and puppet shows from Sváťovo dividlo

Nelahozeves Castle is easily accessible by train – station “Nelahozeves zámek”. If you present your train ticket at the admission desk at the Pottery Market, you will receive a 30% discount on your entrance fee.

Program of the children theatre and flyer can be found here.

Afterwards, an entertaining craft workshop will be ready for them to test their memory about details and stories they have seen and heard during the tour. In addition to the Spring Pottery Market and Advent Festival, visitors can look forward to a series of new, family oriented events throughout the year.

*Please note that children’s tours are available only in Czech

Almond Gingerbread Cookies: An Excerpt from “Polyxena’s Cookbook”

Measure out sweet almonds on a scale and crush them to powder in a mortar, but less roughly than for marzipan. Then add some rose water. Take the almonds out of the mortar and mold them with your hands. If you wish to have the dough reddish, add some powdered cinnamon. To both kinds of dough, blond or reddish, add some butter. Form little doughnuts, thick as a finger and as big as you wish, flatten them, put on thewafer* and bake them in the oven. When they are half baked, ice them with shiny sugar**. After icing them, put them back into the oven. Make the shiny sugar as follows – take one egg white from a fresh egg, add three or four tablespoons, or more, of sugar, and half a tablespoon of rose water. Then stir until [the mixture] becomes as white as plain sugar. Ice the gingerbreads with the glazing, they become very nice. The glazing described above is used for the gingerbreads with added cinnamon; for the blond gingerbreads, add a little cinnamon to the shiny sugar.

  *an edible wafer that functioned as parchment paper when baking

 **icing

• A classic grilled cheese sandwich (pictured above) adds comfort to any cold day, with melted Swiss cheese, marinated red onion and a hint of whole grain Dijon mustard served on bakery fresh dark wheat bread

• A delicate pear flan tart satisfies the craving for something sweet with a delightful blend of fresh pear, creamy custard and dark chocolate

Did we mention that the view from the balcony remains as heavenly as ever? Reserve your table today by calling +420 233 312 925 or writing to lpc@lobkowicz.cz.

The performance begins at 17:00. Tickets cost 120 CZK and are available at the information center of Roudnice nad Labem and in the city’s Gallery of Modern Art. All proceeds from the event will go to charity.

Priority Project: The Regimental Officers Portraits

Every year, in collaboration with Czech and international experts in the field of conservation, Lobkowicz Collections, o.p.s. identifies priority projects for The Collections. The eighteen paintings known as the Regimental Officers portraits are the next such project.

Significance

In 1623, Václav Eusebius, 2nd Prince Lobkowicz (1609–1677), founded the Lobkowicz Regiment, which formed an integral part of the Imperial Habsburg forces. The Lobkowicz Collections include eighteen portraits of officers that served in this regiment under the command of Field Marshall Prince George Christian Lobkowicz (1686–1753/5). These paintings are traditionally attributed to Antonio Lucini, who between 1702 and 1733 is known to have been working in Milan, where the Field Marshall was commander-in-chief of the Habsburg army in Italy.

Current Condition

All eighteen portraits require cleaning and expert conservation. Many of the canvases have become thin over time and suffered extensive paint loss as a result. The majority will need lining, consolidation and retouching of the paint losses associated with damage sustained during the Nazi and Communist period.

Project Details

Painting details: oil on canvas, 96 x 74 cm (37.8 x 29.1 in)

Task: cleaning, repair and conservation of the 18 paintings

Total cost: 671.000 CZK / 27.000 EUR / 35,000 USD

Cost per painting: 37.300 CZK / 1.500 EUR / 1,950 USD

Time frame: 6 months

The Regimental Officers portraits are currently on display in the Officers Room at Nelahozeves Castle. To become a sponsor of this conservation project, please contact PhDr. Veronika Wolf, Director of The Lobkowicz Collections, at wolf@lobkowicz.cz.

Exhibited will be a first edition (1622) of the work entitled Pallazi di Genova, published in Antwerp by the prominent Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640). The book presents detailed engravings of facades, cross sections and plans of Renaissance palaces and villas from Genoa, Italy. Though the engravings themselves were created for Rubens by other engravers, Rubens was the initiator and publisher of the work, as well as the author of the introduction, in which he explains the purpose behind the project – a propagation of the new progressive architectural style he hoped to implement as the model for contemporary houses in Antwerp and other towns in the Southern Netherlands.

The second exhibited book, Castella et praetoria nobilium Brabantiae, was published by the historiographer Jacques le Roy (1633–1719). Also a first edition, it was published in Antwerp in 1694. The work is composed of more than 200 engravings and etchings of views of architectural monuments of the Duchy of Brabant, a territory that spanned many present-day Belgian and Dutch provinces, including Antwerp, Brussels, Leuven, Breda and their surroundings. The authors of the engravings were artists active in the period in the Southern Netherlands, including the famous etcher of Bohemian origin Václav (Wenceslaus or Wenzel) Hollar (1607–1677). Hollar, who was born in Prague, is renowned especially for the work he created in England, where he spent the greater part of his life.

This article was written by PhDr. Soňa Černocká, Head Librarian at The Lobkowicz Library & Archives and curator of the new exhibition. Architecture in the Work of Peter Paul Rubens and Václav Hollar will run through 30 May 2013.

EAT: Perennial Castle kitchen favorites goulash, sausages, apple strudel and more

DRINK:

• Homemade mulled wine

• Lobkowicz beer

• Wine from the Roudnice Lobkowicz Winery (including tastings in the Castle Cellars)

• Specialty teas from the teahouse inside the Castle

PLAY:

• Puppet theater by Svát’ovo dividlo

• Juggling performances by Pupa

• Advent concerts

• Craft workshops

• Tours of the Castle

• Self-guided visits of Antonín Dvořák's childhood home

SHOP: Over 80 vendors will participate in this year’s holiday market, selling a wide assortment of handcrafts and other merchandise, including:

• Holiday decorations (wreaths, candlesticks, ornaments, mistletoe and more)

• Wood, ceramic and enamel products

• Stained glass

• Children’s toys

• Jewelry

• Czech Christmas cookies and other food products

BE MERRY: Take in the sounds, sights and activities of the weekend, and get swept up in the magic of the Festival spirit and Nelahozeves Castle during the holidays.

Ticket Prices: Adults – 100 CZK; Seniors and Students – 50 CZK; Children up to age 12 – Free. Included in the ticket price is free admission to one of the following activities: Castle tour, Advent concert or puppet theater. Additional activities may be purchased for 50 CZK each. For complete information about the Festival, please click here.

Please note: The bridge leading from the D8 highway to the village of Nelahozeves and Nelahozeves Castle has reopened following the completion of construction.

To read more about the Lobkowicz Collections Membership Program, please click here. To become a Member or to inquire further about the program, please write to membership@lobkowicz.cz.

Organized in celebration of the 60^th year of Queen Elizabeth’s reign and the 75^th anniversary of the National Maritime Museum, Royal River explored the relationship between British monarchs, London and the citizenry through the lens of the Thames, which throughout the city’s history brought all three together during the displays of royal power, patronage and pageantry staged on the historic waterway.

The participation of London: The Thames on Lord Mayor’s Day in Royal River marked the first time the picture had returned to England since it was painted there more than 260 years ago.

During its time in the United Kingdom, the painting was not only seen by tens of thousands of people at the National Maritime Museum, it also served as inspiration for one of the modern era’s most impressive water events—Queen Elizabeth’s seven-mile, one thousand boat Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, which was watched by an estimated global television audience of two billion people.

London: The Thames on Lord Mayor’s Day is once again on display in its home at The Lobkowicz Palace in Prague Castle.

At the Castle: From Restitution to Today

Occupied by the Czech military music school at the time of its restitution to the Lobkowicz family in 1992, Roudnice Castle continued to be used by the organization until the end of 2008, when the school's funding was terminated by the government. The monies earned through the rental of the property to the military were used to initiate improvements, most importantly the complete replacement of the Castle’s roofing system. Repairs are ongoing.

Tours are guided only. For information about tour times, admission fees and group visits, please click here. English language tours require prior reservation; please contact Mr. Filip Votava at votava@lobkowicz.cz at least 72 hours in advance of the desired tour date.

Organized by Lobkowicz Events Management and the Roudnice nad Labem Cultural Center, the Festival has something for everyone, from an amusement park and pony rides for younger visitors, to live music and tours of the Castle for adults. A day of good fun, good food and of course good wine from the Roudnice Lobkowicz Winery awaits! For more information about the Festival, including directions to the Castle, please visit our website.

After enjoying a private viewing of the painting and the exhibition Royal River: Power, Pageantry and the Thames, attendees continued on to a gala dinner in the historic 17th-century Queen’s House, where the exceptional Brodowski Quartet performed excerpts from Beethoven’s Opus 18 String Quartets. The generosity of RMG has allowed the full amount of the funds raised to be committed to the special projects and educational programs of Lobkowicz Collections, o.p.s.

Accompanied on the piano by Martin Levický, one of the Czech Republic’s most gifted young pianists, Mr. Kutik’s moving performance brought the full Concert Hall to its feet moments after the final notes sounded. Beckoned back multiple times by the audience’s sustained applause, Mr. Kutik and Mr. Levický delighted attendees by playing one final piece – Claude Debussy’s Beau Soir.

This Members Event was made possible in part by Mr. Herb Burtis and The Ferris Burtis Music Foundation. Special thanks also go to Monika Havlová and Daniel Havel. To read more about the Lobkowicz Collections Membership Program, please visit our website. To become a member or to inquire further about the program, please write to membership@lobkowicz.cz.

About Mr. Kutik

Europa Jagellonica seeks to highlight the contributions of the Jagiellonian dynasty to arts and culture, and The Collections are one of the exhibition’s 120 supporting international institutions, which also include the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, the British Museum in London and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

The new exhibitions at Lobkowicz Palace and Nelahozeves Castle will display several of the most important volumes from the personal library of the Bohemian humanist and poet Bohuslav Hassenstein Lobkowicz. “The Lobkowicz Library’s collection of Jagiellonian-era books is represented first and foremost by Hassenstein’s acquisitions,” says Head Librarian Soňa Černocká. “His collection included some 650 volumes, 475 of which remain in The Library today.”

The exhibition at Nelahozeves Castle will run through 31 October 2012. The exhibition at Lobkowicz Palace will run through 29 November 2012. Europa Jagellonica may be seen in Kutná Hora through 30 September 2012; in Warsaw, October–January 2013; and in Potsdam, March–June 2013.

These works depict members of the Polish noble family of Poniatowski; the sitters are close relatives of Poland's last king, Stanislaw II, who was elected in 1764 and reigned until his forced abdication in 1795. The portraits hang in the Princess’ Boudoir.

Organized as part of the “ Year of Pernštejn”, the exhibition will use specific chapters in the Pernštejn family’s history to recreate for the visitor the everyday life of the Czech nobility in the late medieval and early modern periods. Particular attention will be devoted to temporal milestones, ;such as birth, marriage, career and death.

With this exhibition and other cultural activities planned throughout the Czech Republic in 2012, NPU seeks to highlight this historically important Bohemian family, whose legacy endures beyond the lineage’s 17th-century end, including through the art of The Collections and the history of the Lobkowicz family.

The exhibition will run from 3 May through 31 July 2012. To visit the website of the “Year of Pernštejn”, please click here (Czech only).

Assuming the role of junior curators, the students worked in groups of four or five to inspect, document and research their assigned object in order to determine its identity and the purpose for which it was once used. Further enhancing this year’s program, the ISP class was joined on the project by students from KIPP San Francisco Bay Academy in California (USA). Modern technology allowed the students to collaborate on every aspect of the project, including the final presentations, where KIPP students made their appearance in pre-recorded video segments. The students’ work was evaluated throughout the program by four Collections judges.

About the Curator for a Day Program

The Curator for a Day program was created in 2009 by Alexandra Lobkowicz in collaboration with the International School of Prague. It is usually conducted as part of a social studies curriculum.

An Interview with the Top Student Curators of 2012

Now in its third year, The Lobkowicz Collections’ Curator for a Day program concluded in the Imperial Hall of Lobkowicz Palace on 26 March, when sixty 7thgrade students from the International School of Prague and their counterparts at the KIPP San Francisco Bay Academy (USA) presented the findings of their two-month research projects on uncataloged objects from The Collections. Dorothea Eder, Sophia Mikton, Jakub Kodl, George Mazzotti and Yeong Gi Yoon were awarded 1st place for their work and spoke with Lobkowicz writers about their experience.

Curator Object: 19th-century Monstrance

What did you think the object was when you first saw it?

We thought it must have been an object used in a Christian church because of the cross. At first, we thought that the sun-like shape at the top meant it was a sundial. Some of us thought it was just a decorative piece with no purpose.

What was the strategy you set in order to tackle your research and which sources were ultimately the most helpful?

All the websites we used were extremely helpful. It’s hard to pick out a certain few that were the best. The strategy for all our research was to first assign topics to each person, then each person would research that topic. After researching, we would take notes, paraphrase and finally put all the information together into one blog post.

Were there any surprises along the way?

One of the surprises was that we were able to find the date of the object in small carved writing on the monstrance’s base. Another surprise was that we were able to find so much on religion and the history of religion in Bohemia through a single object. Before the project, we did not think this was possible.

What was the most valuable thing you learned from the Curator project?

We think that the most valuable information we learned was the information about the object, the history of Bohemia and the history of religion. Overall, we were glad that we were able to tell a story about history through one object.

Thoughtful, informative and punctuated with humor, this fascinating retrospective guided the audience through Canaletto’s personal and artistic bibliography, beginning with his start as a pupil of his father and brother – where he was groomed to be a set designer for the stage – through the London period that produced the two canvases of the River Thames belonging to The Lobkowicz Collections, and finally concluding with his induction into the Venice Academy of Fine Arts in 1763.

• Browse a wide assortment of handmade pottery, jewelry and other fine crafts from 150 local vendors and artisans

• Get to know the other half of The Lobkowicz Collections by touring the Castle’s permanent exhibition, Private Spaces: A Noble Family at Home

• Test your artistic skills at craft workshops for both children and adults

• Enjoy a variety of sweet and savory treats from the Castle kitchen

• Sample wines from the Roudnice Lobkowicz Winery

• Relax in the courtyard, while listening to the sounds of dulcimer music performed by skilled musicians in period costume

• Visit the birth house of Antonín Dvořák and the Church of St. Andrew, where the famed composer began his career

• Especially for younger visitors: don’t miss Pupa the Juggler, concerts by Špalíček and puppet shows from Sváťovo dividlo

For more information about the 2012 Spring Pottery Market, please click here.

To our friends, supporters, sponsors and the hundreds of thousands of people who have visited The Collections over the last 15 years: it is because of you that we have been able to reach new goals and to meet new challenges as we strive to achieve our mission of preserving, protecting and maintaining The Collections for the visiting public and scholars from around the world.

Thank you.

Ms.Wolf’s presentation, The Museum in the 3rd Millennium: End of the Traditional Model?, sought to highlight a shift in the profile of the average museum visitor and to bring attention to the art institution’s contemporaneous attainment of an almost celebrity-esque status. “No longer ;is the art museum considered a place whose access is restricted to highly educated individuals or those wellversed in the arts,” she stated. “To the contrary, it is now viewed as a venue open to people of widely diverse backgrounds and greatly varying interests.” To illustrate her point, Ms. Wolf cited skyrocketing attendance levels at a number of museums around the world, notably at the Louvre, whose visitor total grew from 6.4 million people in 2004 to 8.9 million in 2011.

As the profile of the museum-goer alters, becoming more democratic and more modern, so too have the facilities themselves – and their reach is expanding into new territory, notes Ms. Wolf. “[Around the world] there are brand-new museum quarters being built, most noticeably in Abu Dhabi, where the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum will soon be finished. The Louvre will also have a presence in the city with a building designed by star architect Jean Nouvel.”

The series’ opening concert, A Princely Collection: Haydn/Beethoven, took place at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall on 10 February and featured the talented Jupiter String Quartet performing a program of works financed by and dedicated to the 7th Prince, including Haydn’s String Quartet in F major, Op. 77, No. 2, Hob. III:82 and Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98.

Just prior to the performance, a standing-room-only lecture about the 7th Prince’s life was presented by musicologist Dr. Kathryn Libin, Chair of the Department of Music at Vassar College (USA) and a longtime collaborator with The Lobkowicz Collections’ musical archives.

According to Festival organizers Mr. David Finkel and Ms. Wu Han – CMS’s artistic directors and accomplished concert musicians in their own right – the theme for this year’s Winter Festival concert series was inspired by a summer 2009 visit to Lobkowicz Palace Museum. In an interview with the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Finkel described his visit

and spoke reverently about the musical works that exist in part because of the financial assistance provided by the 7th Prince and others like him. “If Beethoven's Opus 18 quartets didn't exist, what would the world be like? We take a work like the ‘Eroica Symphony’ for granted. It’s like the Rock of Gibraltar – it’s always been there. But it might not have been there had the composers not been inspired by or pleaded with a patron, or had they not had some composure in their lives because someone gave them a little money.”

It is undoubtedly this heartfelt conviction that prompted Mr. Finkel, upon spotting William Lobkowicz in the Museum galleries during his tour with Ms. Han, to “chase him down, jump in front, stick out my hand and say, ‘I just have to thank you for helping Beethoven!”

To read more about “Immortal Investments”, please visit CMS’s website.

• a vibrantly hued warm lentil salad combining French green lentils with finely minced carrots, beets, mushrooms, celery, arugula and a hint of Spanish chorizo, all tossed in the Café’s signature balsamic vinaigrette

• a savory ratatouille wrap with a tomato-tortilla-twist on the classic Provençal dish

• a perfectly toasted panino of sweet Parma ham and buttery Gruyère cheese

• a delectable vegetarian burger of seared portobello mushroom and creamy goat cheese with a touch of balsamic vinegar — a light, but decadent alternative to the classic Lobkowicz Gourmet Cheeseburger

The first comprehensive survey of Dutch art to take place in the Czech Republic in the last several decades, Rembrandt & Co., along with the scholarly catalog that will be published in conjunction with the exhibition, is the culmination of an important five-year research project on the National Gallery’s collection of nearly 600 Dutch paintings.

Among the paintings Cornelis de Baellieur depicts in the background of A Cabinet of Curiosities is Dutch artist Pieter de Molijn’s (1595-1661) undated landscape entitled Rest in Front of a Country House (far wall, above round canvas). This painting forms part of the National Gallery in Prague’s permanent collection and will hang adjacent to de Baellieur’s work in Rembrandt & Co.

A Cabinet of Curiosities will hang alongside more than 120 canvases from the National Gallery and other prestigious museums in the Czech Republic and abroad.

The exhibition will run from 10 February through 27 May 2012.

To visit the website of the National Gallery in Prague, please click here.

“[From the] beginning, we decided as a family that we were going to open The Collections comprehensively for the public because they had never been open for the public. That was where we were headed,” said Mr. Lobkowicz. “We didn’t know how we were going to get there, [but] we knew we had to make them live again.”

Mr. Lobkowicz went on to discuss the evolution of his family’s work over the last twenty years, and in one of the evening’s most poignant moments, he emphasized the core beliefs that have been the driving force behind the goals they have achieved and those toward which they continue to work: “It’s all about people; it’s all about spirit; it’s about hard work and ethics. It’s about doing the things that make a difference and caring about it.”

Organized in celebration of the 60th year of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s reign and the 75th anniversary of the Museum, Royal River will explore the relationship between monarchs, London and its citizens, which through the lens of the Thames and throughout the City’s history brought together all three during displays of royal power, patronage and pageantry.

The participation of Canaletto’s London: The Thames on Lord Mayor’s Day in Royal River will mark the first time the painting has returned to England since it was painted over 260 years ago. It will be exhibited alongside more than 350 objects and paintings, among them many pieces never previously seen by the public. The exhibition will run from 27 April through 9 September 2012.

About the Painting

The painting was brought into The Lobkowicz Collections by Ferdinand Philip, 6th Prince Lobkowicz (1724–1784), who acquired it after an introduction to Canaletto in London, where the Prince had traveled to buy horses. The painting, along with a second slightly earlier Canaletto of the same size and also featuring the Thames, was sent to the 6th Prince’s home in Bohemia, where it hung for centuries in the Lobkowicz ducal residence of Roudnice Castle.

London: The Thames on Lord Mayor’s Day remained in the possession of the Lobkowicz family until the 20th century, when it was confiscated first by the Nazis at the start of World War II and then by the Communist government that came to power in Czechoslovakia in 1948. In the early 1990s, the painting was returned to the Lobkowiczes following the passage of three restitution laws by the government of President Václav Havel.

Since restitution, the painting has formed part of the permanent collections, first at Nelahozeves Castle and, since 2007, at the Lobkowicz Palace Museum in Prague Castle.

We wish you a wonderful holiday and all the best in the coming year.

The Lobkowicz Team

To view our greeting card, please click here.

In May of this year, the portrait became the first object from The Lobkowicz Collections to appear in a contemporary art show when it was loaned to the Rudolfinum Gallery (Prague) for the exhibition Undeniably Me, which explored the question of identity in modern art. The painting of Prince František was hung next to a Luc Tuymans “portrait” of a nameless, faceless figure. The stark con-trast between the two sitters reinforcedthe Belgian artist’s suggestion that hair —and hairstyle — is the human being’s only true distinguishing characteristic and thus, the hallmark of an individual’s identity.

Lobkowicz Events Management and The Lobkowicz Collections extend their thanks to all the sponsors, visitors, vendors and entertainers who each year ensure that the Festival is a great success.

Dedicated to the work of the 17th-century Italian architect, draftsman and engraver Giovanni Battista Falda, the show will present two of his works from The Lobkowicz Library: Palazzi di Roma (Rome, c. 1660), which was published in collaboration with the renowned engraver Pietro Ferrerio, and Giardini di Roma (Rome, c. 1683).

"Falda was one of the first notable vedutista whose work established a repertory of views of Rome that inspired later artists including [Giovanni Battista] Piranesi," says Soňa Černocká, Librarian of The Lobkowicz Library, the collection to which the books belong. "Falda's engravings captured the city — with its palaces, fountains and spectacular gardens — accurately and in vivid detail, and [they] were also a great commercial success, as his cityscapes were avidly sought after by the Grand Tourists."

The exhibition will run through 31 May 2012.

For our youngest visitors, many favorite entertainments from past years (and the Spring Pottery Markets) are back, including the juggler Pupa, the puppet theater Svát’ovo dividlo and the festive Advent concerts. The perennially popular craft workshops – among them, ornament-making tables and candle-crafting stations – will take place as usual inside the Castle interiors.

Children and adults alike will enjoy shopping at the booths of more than 80 local artisans
and will be able to select their purchases from hundreds of handcrafted products and other fine goods on offer, including wooden toys; teas, honeys and mead; ceramics; jewelry; wreaths, ornaments and even mistletoe.

Equally unmissable while at the Castle is a tour of the The Lobkowicz Collections: the museum exhibition Private Spaces: A Noble Family at Home is a feast for the eyes and visits will be conducted by guides in period costume.

Tip: After your museum tour, stop in at the Castle tearoom for a midday break!

Lobkowicz Catering will be responsible for food throughout the weekend and will whip up such well-loved Festival hits as Czech goulash and blueberry cake. Lobkowicz beer and wine, the latter of which will be available for tasting at stands across the Castle property, pair wonderfully with the catering kitchen’s specialties and will be available for purchase.

Before you leave for the day, stop in at the Dvořák Museum, which is located at the foot of the Castle.

Fun Fact: The word “advent” is derived from the Medieval Latin word adventus, meaning “coming”. We hope you will come and get into the holiday spirit with us at the Festival later this month!

At the young age of fourteen, the 7th Prince was honored by Habsburg emperor Joseph II with the designation Duke of Roudnice, a title that bore the name of both the Lobkowicz family's principal seat – Roudnice Castle – and the name of the town in which the the property was situated.

The annual Advent Festival will take place at Nelahozeves Castle on 26 and 27 November – the last weekend of the month. Read more about the Festival on our website and stay tuned for a preview report in next month’s newsletter.

The next Lobkowicz Collections Members Event will be held on Wednesday, 7 December at 18:00. The evening’s program is entitled Returning Home: The Restitution Story, and the guest speaker will be William Lobkowicz, who will talk for the very first time about the journey that brought The Collections together after more than 40 years in confiscation. To become a member or to inquire about membership, please write to membership@lobkowicz.cz.

Handmade in the Czech Republic with Italian ingredients and cocoa sourced in Madagascar and Central and South America, the delectable – and music-themed – semisweet chocolate may be purchased in single bars or in boxes of three.

The classic Czech spa wafers, known as lázeňské oplatky, are paper-thin, cream-filled cookies whose tradition dates back to the 18th century. Lobkowicz spa wafers are available in two flavors: hazelnut (“Castle Wafers”) and chocolate (“Palace Wafers”). For questions about these or other Shop products, or to place an order, please write to Radek Toms at toms@lobkowicz.cz.

Lobkowicz Events Management extends its thanks to all those who attended the Festival – visitors, vendors and entertainers alike – with special gratitude to main sponsor K Brewery for its ongoing support of Lobkowicz events.

Three months remain in the four-month project to conserve German artist Johann Bardou’s seven Poniatowski portraits, which were first written about in last year’s October newsletter. Three specialists – one each in the fields of pastel technique, paper and wooden framework – are at the helm of the preservation work, which is expected to be finished by the end of November 2011.

The first phase of conservation has recently begun on the Lobkowicz Palace Museum’s twenty-six prints of views of Rome by Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Nine of the works are currently at the restorer’s studio. The preservation process, which the remaining seventeen prints will undergo in two subsequent phases of conservation, will take approximately three months to complete.

About the Piranesi conservation project

The 18th-century Piranesi prints suffer from so-called “acid burn”, a condition caused by the paper on which they are mounted. Left untreated, the acid of the backing paper would continue to migrate into the paper fibers of the prints themselves, causing irrevocable damage. Conservation work will see the prints removed from their present backings and remounted onto acid-free paper. Light restoration work, such as the removal of marks or blemishes, will also be performed.

The first phase of this conservation process, which was profiled in the January newsletter, has been made possible by contributors to Lobkowicz Collections, o.p.s. The foundation continues to seek the funds necessary to complete the second and third phases of the project. The cost to conserve and restore each print is 3,500 CZK.

To sponsor the conservation of one of the Piranesi prints, or for more information about the project, please contact Veronika Wolf, Director of Lobkowicz Collections, o.p.s., at wolf@lobkowicz.cz. To read more about Lobkowicz Collections, o.p.s. and its mission, please click here.

*o.p.s. (obecně prospěšná společnost) is a nonprofit organization designation in the Czech Republic.

Dr. Beveridge’s lecture sought to give an overview of the composer’s work, highlighting everything from the jazz-like passages in his Humoresque, which would later influence American composer and pianist George Gershwin, to excerpts from his solemn Biblical Songs (Biblické písně), which Dvořák wrote while in the United States in 1894 and which reflect a moving spiritual devotion.

Following the conclusion of the program, there was a reception during which members had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Beveridge and the musicians that accompanied his lecture: pianist Eva Matošková of The Prague Conservatoire, cellist Richard Žemlička of the Prague Symphony Orchestra and noted soprano Liana Sass.

Adult visitors can look forward to sampling wines from the Roudnice Lobkowicz Winery; touring the 12th century Romanesque part of the Castle - the oldest section - with guides in period costume; visiting the baroque Castle chapel; and viewing vintage cars at a special exhibition in the town square (Karlovo náměstí, 10:00-14:00).

At the Castle, including inside the courtyard, the gardens and Castle interiors themselves, children will enjoy craft workshops, falconry shows, face painting, pony rides, puppet theater (15:00-17:00) and "Haunted Castle" adventure (20:00-22:00).

Also in the Castle courtyard: entertainment will be provided alternately by a variety of music bands and swordsmen demonstrations; Lobkowicz Catering will serve goulash, apple strudel and other Czech festival favorites; and Lobkowicz wine and beer will be available for purchase.

Be sure to be in the courtyard at 13:30 for the official opening of the festival by Praotec Čech (Forefather Czech)!

For more information about the Wine Harvest Festival schedule and events, please click here (Czech only) or write to info@lobkowiczevents.cz. For directions to Roudnice Castle, please click here.

The evening’s program will consist of a lecture by guest speaker and Dvořák scholar, Dr. David R. Beveridge, whose enthusiasm for his subject and thoughtful presentation format transform a lecture into an engaging master class. Accompanying Dr. Beveridge’s talk will be the sounds of some of Dvořák ’s most beautiful compositions, performed by pianist Eva Matošková of The Prague Conservatoire, cellist Richard Žemlička of the Prague Symphony Orchestra and noted soprano Liana Sass, whose credits include the leading role in Puccini’s La Bohème and Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

After a question and answer period, Dr. Beveridge and Mr. and Mrs. William Lobkowicz will join the members for light refreshments in the Balcony Room.

Members Events are cultural events organized exclusively for participants in the Lobkowicz Collections Membership Program. The next Members Event is scheduled for early December. To read more about the program, please click here. To become a member, or to inquire further about the program, please write to Barbora Palkosková at membership@lobkowicz.cz.

These important works on paper depict members of the Polish noble family of Poniatowski; the sitters are relatives of Poland's last king, Stanislav II (1732-1798), who reigned from 1764 until his forced abdication in 1795.

Following completion of the conservation process, the portraits will be installed in the Princess' Boudoir at Nelahozeves Castle. To see photographs of these beautiful works, please see the "Poniatowski" album in our Facebook photo gallery.

To read more about The Lobkowicz Collections at Nelahozeves Castle, please click here.

"We are very pleased that Fratava has been acknowledged as one of the country's top wines," Mr. Podrábský said afterward. "Wines with expressive fruit flavors are in high demand right now, and we feel that Fratava has a successful future ahead of it."

About Fratava

A cross between the Frankovka (also known as Lemberger or Blaufränkisch) and the Svatovavřinecké (Saint Laurent) grape varieties, the Fratava grape is medium to large in size and dark red in color. Well suited to northern climates because it ripens relatively early, the grape flourishes in lesser quality soil and is able to withstand dry conditions.

Characterized by its robust fruit notes and rich, intense color, Fratava wine boasts low acidity and smooth tannins, which give the varietal broad appeal and make it a suitable pairing for red meat and strong cheeses. The wine, which is also used to create red wine blends, may be enjoyed either very young or aged.

For more information about the Roudnice Lobkowicz Winery, please click here.

Antonín’s musical education, like that of his renowned composer brother, Pavel, began at the Premonstratensian Monastery grammar school in Nová Říše, the small Moravian town in which he was born. He went on to be a student of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and rose to prominence in Vienna at the end of the 18th century, succeeding Pavel as conductor at the Theater an der Wien in 1814.

Today, the entirety of Antonín’s sheet music collection, along with that of his brother, resides in the Music Archive of The Lobkowicz Collections, having been acquired by the 7th Prince in 1800 and 1810, respectively.

In the Piranesi Room at the Museum, the most important and most extensive of the Italian artist's books, Le Antichità romane (1756), is now on display. This four-volume work was the culmination of Piranesi's careful study and excavation of Rome's antiquities and contains 252 prints of the city. Remarkably, Le Antichità romane remains even today one of the largest and most thorough picture volumes on the present-day Italian capital.

The temporary exhibition runs through 31 October 2011.

Count Wenzel Ferdinand’s dinner service was created around the year 1685 and is the most important of its kind remaining in the world today from that era. It is also the best preserved Delft service in existence and the largest at 155 total pieces.

The majority of this Lobkowicz dinner service is on permanent display in the Ceramics Room at the Lobkowicz Palace Museum.  

Prince František’s portrait appears next to that of a nameless, faceless figure, whose only discerning characteristic is its long, flowing hair. Displayed together, the paintings are meant to reinforce Belgian artist Luc Tuymans' suggestion that hair – and hairstyle – is the human being’s only true distinguishing characteristic and hallmark of identity.

Other exhibited artists include Gerhard Richter, Bruce Nauman, Marlene Dumas and Andreas Gursky. The show runs through 14 August 2011.

Six paintings depicting members of the noble Bohemian family of Rožmberk and an illustrated inventory of 17th-century tableware have been loaned to the exhibition The Rožmberk Family: An Aristocratic Family and its Journey Through History.

Among the 600 works of art that retrace the history of this important and influential family is the newly restored Collections painting The Lying in State of William of Rožmberk (1592). The significance of this extraordinary picture lies in its life-size proportions, which are rare among paintings depicting a person on his deathbed.

The Rožmberk exhibition runs through 20 August 2011.

The Lying in State of William of Rožmberk, Bohemian School,
oil on canvas, 1592.

Under an agreement with the National Gallery of Prague, three paintings were loaned to the exhibition Artis Pictoriae Amatores: Europe in the Mirror of Baroque Art Collecting in Prague, which was held at the Prague Castle Riding School from 13 May to 12 September. In the last eighteen years, more than 170 Collections objects have been loaned to museums and exhibitions in the Czech Republic and abroad.

An accomplished poet and Bohemia’s most distinguished representative of Latin Humanism, Bohuslav amassed a collection of approximately 650 volumes – a remarkable number for the time – with the help of friends and a network of professional agents. The works he collected were authored primarily by humanists of the era, as well as classical writers, such as Euclid; unsurprisingly, and with only one exception, they were written in Latin or Greek.

Approximately two thirds of Bohuslav’s book collection is preserved within The Library, including more than 400 of The Library’s 730 incunabula. Upon occasion, these books form part of temporary exhibitions at Lobkowicz Palace Museum and Nelahozeves Castle.

To read more about the The Lobkowicz Library, please see The Library.

In the Piranesi Room at the Palace, the most important and most extensive of Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s books, Le Antichità romane (1756), is now on display. This four-volume work was the culmination of the artist’s careful study and excavation of Rome’s antiquities and contains 252 prints of the city. Remarkably, Le Antichità romane remains even today one of the largest and most thorough picture volumes on the present-day Italian capital.

On view in the exhibition cabinets in the Prince’s Library at Nelahozeves Castle are five extraordinarily rare 16th and 17th-century books on medicinal plants. Among the volumes, four of which are first editions, is a hand-colored copy  of Das Buch zu distilieren… und das Buch Thesaurus pauperum (1532) by the renowned German physician and surgeon Hieronymus Brunschwig, or Braunschweig, (1450–1512). Written in vernacular German, the book was produced for the general public and served in part as a medical manual for those who lived in more remote places and who therefore did not have immediate access to a doctor.

The temporary exhibitions at the Palace and Nelahozeves Castle run through 31 October.

To read more about the The Lobkowicz Library, please see The Library.

Come, relax and enjoy lunch or simply coffee and dessert in this historical and beautiful setting. Lobkowicz Palace Café is open every day from 10:00 to 18:00. For more information, please see Lobkowicz Palace Café.

Please click the image above to see
photographs of the courtyard and
Lobkowicz Palace Café.

The staff of Lobkowicz Events Management and Lobkowicz Collections o.p.s. would like to extend their thanks to everyone who visited this year’s Market and to the companies that sponsored the event.

To view more photographs from
the festival, please click the above image.

On hand for the celebration were guest speakers John Somerville, Chief Curator of The Lobkowicz Collections, and Martin Martan, principal paintings restorer for The Collections. In his introductory remarks, Mr. Somerville discussed past restoration projects and the ongoing restoration and conservation challenges facing The Collections. He also reflected on the art of restoration itself, noting that Mr. Martan’s considerable skill lies not just in his ability to repair a tear in a canvas or to mix color well, but also in his respect for the integrity of the original work. “We are enormously fortunate to have him working on pictures for us, as his knowledge and experience in this field are so considerable and his work of the highest caliber, leaving a painting looking in good health and well cared for, but not ‘brightened up’ or ‘improved’,” said Mr. Somerville.

Following the Chief Curator’s speech, Mr. Martan gave a detailed presentation on the Veronese conservation process, describing the painting’s former condition and the precise steps taken to repair it. Mr. Martan also highlighted a surprising discovery made in the restorer’s studio: during standard X-ray analysis of the canvas, a human head not original to the composition appeared, indicating Veronese most likely reused the canvas for the painting of David.

Following the conclusion of its temporary exhibition at the Lobkowicz Palace, David with the Head of Goliath will once again be on display in the Great Drawing Room at Nelahozeves Castle beginning 3 May.

To see photos from the event,
please click the above image.

For four weeks, the 7th-grade students had taken on the role of curator, each investigating one of thirty-three total Collections objects selected from depository for the school program. The diverse assortment of objects ranged from an Indonesian musical instrument known as an angklung, to an executioner’s sword, to an 18th-century woman’s shoe.

Three top prizes and six honorable mentions were awarded by Alexandra Lobkowicz to the students with the best projects.

About the "Curator for a Day" Program

A singular educational and museum experience, The Lobkowicz Collections Curator for a Day program was created in 2009 by Alexandra Lobkowicz in collaboration with the International School of Prague and Apple, Inc.

Modeled off of other Lobkowicz educational programs, the Curator program is unique in that students are assigned an actual Collections object that they are allowed to handle and must research as a curator would.

At the start of the program, which is usually conducted as part of a history class curriculum, students receive a one-line clue about their object and spend approximately one hour analyzing it. They also tour the museums at the Lobkowicz Palace and Nelahozeves Castle and consult the many resources of The Collections reference library. Throughout the four-week project, the young “curators” correspond with Collections staff, which helps guide the students in their research.

To read more about educational opportunities with The Lobkowicz Collections, please see Education.

“Whether you want to find out about museum hours, special student programs, Lobkowicz festivals or hosting an event at one of the Lobkowicz properties, the goal of the web redesign project was to create a comprehensive, easy-to-use and engaging resource for visitors of all levels of interest” says Director of Special Projects, Jessica Hejtmanek, who led the project from conception to completion.

Users of the website will enjoy regularly updated content in the form of news, photographs and selected highlights from The Collections and can look forward to new features, such as the addition of an e-shop and the translation of the site into multiple languages.

The feedback of our visitors is always greatly appreciated! Please send your suggestions and comments to Mary Masri, Director of Communications, at masri@lobkowicz.cz.

Throughout the weekend, Lobkowicz Catering will prepare favorite Czech specialties, including goulash, sausage, potato pancakes and apple strudel and will also serve award-winning Lobkowicz wine and beer. And when a bit of rest is called for, a traditional tea room in the cellars will provide a welcome respite and add a bit of sweetness to the day.

Located just adjacent to the Castle, the childhood home of Antonín Dvořák, the renowned Czech composer, and the Church of St. Andrew, in whose choir Dvořák performed as a young boy, will also be open to the public.

For more detailed information, see Pottery Market.

The newly-cleaned work will be on temporary exhibition at Lobkowicz Palace for two weeks beginning on the 14th of April. The evening beforehand, members of The Collections will enjoy a special preview of Veronese’s splendid baroque painting as well as a presentation on art restoration led by Martin Martan, chief paintings restorer for The Collections.

To inquire about Membership, please contact membership@lobkowicz.cz.