Czernin Palace

The Czernin Palace (Czech: Černínský palác) is the largest of the baroque palaces of Prague, 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 Černín z Chudenic, the Habsburg imperial ambassador to Venice and Rome, in the 1660s.[1]

Czernin Palace, seen from Loretánské náměstí opposite the Loreta

Czernin Palace seen from Hradčany

The palace features stuccos by Italian artists.[2]

History

In 1666, Humprecht Jan Černín purchased a part of the debt loaded property of the House of Lobkowicz, 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 plasterers Giovanni Maderna and Giovanni Battista Cometa were replaced by Francesco Peri and Antonio Travelli in 1674.

References

Rough Guide Prague 2002 Page 56 "For all its grandeur - it's the largest palace in Prague, for the sake of which two whole streets were demolished - it's a pretty brutal building, commissioned in the 1660s by Count Humprecht Jan Cernin, one-time imperial ambassador to Venice"
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."

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[1] Rough Guide Prague 2002 Page 56 "For all its grandeur - it's the largest palace in Prague, for the sake of which two whole streets were demolished - it's a pretty brutal building, commissioned in the 1660s by Count Humprecht Jan Cernin, one-time imperial ambassador to Venice"

[2] 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."