Royalty and Architecture
Visions and Ambitions of European Monarchs and Nobility
18 March 2024
Hatfield house, england
Abstract
It is well known that, throughout history, kings and queens have commissioned castles, palaces, and even entire cities, to showcase their power. Less consideration has been given, however, to monarchs whose interests in architecture were so close that they might actually be called architects.
Recent research on King Gustav III of Sweden (1746–92) reveals that he was in fact the architect of a number of important building projects and gardens. Similarly, a relative of the Swedish royal, His Majesty King George III of Great Britian (1760–1820) was knowledgeable in the field and a skilled draughtsman. In this seminar, leading international scholars delve into the engagement of these and other European monarchs in addition to members of the nobility with architectural practice from the 17th century to present day.
Programme
11:30 Welcome address: Kurt Almqvist, President
11:35 Moderator: Svante Tirén
11:40 Introduction: Clive Aslet and Frank Salmon
Session I: Absolutist beginnings in Church and State
11:45 Elisabeth Kieven: ‘Make haste!’ Designing with Bernini
12:00 Ian Thompson: ‘Details about everything’. Louis XIV and the
Creation of Versailles
12:15 Simon Thurley: James II at Whitehall. Patron, Priests and Proselytising
12:45 Lunch
Session II: Dividers and Rulers – the Kings Who Could Draw
14:00 Frank Salmon: ‘Other Princes have the pride of building, your Majesty has the science’. King George III
14:15 Magnus Olausson: Gustav III of Sweden as a Gardening Lord
14:30 Jarl Kremeier: König Friedrich Wilhelm IV von Preussen’s Architectural Visions and Perspectives
14:45 Panel discussion
15:00 Break
Session III: Monarchs with Clear Views
15:15 Emily Roy: Paul I and Maria Feodorovna: Patronage for Pleasure and Politics
15:30 Barbara Arciszewska: ‘Quaesivit coelo lucem’. King Stanisław August Poniatowski and Architecture
15:45 Rebecca Lyons: ‘You will not think me a bad architect’. George IV and the Presentation of Monarchy
16:00 Panel discussion
16:15 Afternoon tea
Session IV: Princes of Modernity in Building
16:45 Julius Bryant: Prince Albert: Architect?
17:00 Clive Aslet: King Charles III and Architecture. His Years as Prince of Wales
17:15 John Goodall: Architecture and the Enactment of Monarchy
17:30 Panel Discussion
17:45 Moderator’s closing thoughts
18:00 Drinks, reception & dinner
For more information on the text published by Bokförlaget Stolpe see: https://bokforlagetstolpe.com/en/books/royalty-and-architecture-visions-and-ambitions-of-european-monarchs/
