The Czernin Palace ( cs, Černínský palác) is the largest of the baroque palaces of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, which has served as the offices of the Czechoslovak and later Czech foreign ministry since the 1930s. It was commissioned by the diplomat Humprecht Jan Czernin, the Habsburg imperial ambassador to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, in the 1660s. The palace features stuccos by Italian artists.Mojmír Horyna, Pavel Zahradník, Pavel Preiss ''Czernin Palace in Prague'' 2001 Page 23 "... working so hard it could be hoped that they would finish before the Count's arrival in Prague. This was the first time the two stucco makers working at the palace were actually named - Giovanni Bartolommeo Cometa and Giovanni Maderna."

History

In 1666, Humprecht Jan Czernin purchased a part of the debt loaded property of the

House of Lobkowicz The House of Lobkowicz (''Lobkovicové'' in modern Czech, sg. ''z Lobkovic''; ''Lobkowitz'' in German) is a Czech noble family that dates back to the 14th century and is one of the oldest Bohemian noble families. The family also belong to the G ...

, including a building plot with gardens located in the centre of Prague. In 1668, he commissioned Francesco Caratti, a Swiss-Italian architect, and assigned him to develop the project of his new palace on the site. The next year, building contractors Gione Decapaoli and Abraham Leuthner started construction. The

plasterer A plasterer is a tradesman or tradesperson who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. The process of creating plasterwork, called plastering, has been ...

s Giovanni Maderna and Giovanni Battista Cometa were replaced by Francesco Peri and Antonio Travelli in 1674.

References

{{Coord, 50, 05, 20, N, 14, 23, 25, E, region:CZ-PR_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Houses completed in the 17th century Palaces in Prague Buildings and structures completed in the 17th century Czernin family

History

See also

References