DID YOU KNOW?
The City Gallery of Bratislava celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2011.
TAPESTRIES FROM ENGLAND
The Primate´s Palace, considered to be the most beautiful Classicist buildings in Bratislava, was designed by Hungarian architect Melchior Hefele for the Archbishop of Esztergom and Primate of Hungary, Cardinal Jozef Batthyany in 1778. The palace and the famous Hall of Mirrors witnessed many major historic events, such as the signature of the Treaty of Pressburg between Austria and France in 1805 or the opening session of the Hungarian Parliament that had its seat in the building of today´s University Library.
In August 1903, the palace was bought by the city. During the reconstruction, the series of six tapestries was found folded behind wallpaper in the vestibule of the Hall of Mirrors. The tapestries represent an old Greek myth about Hero and Leander. Legend has it that Hero was a priestess of the goddess Aphrodite in the town of Sestos. At the festival she met Leander, a handsome youth from the nearby town of Abydos, located across a narrow strip of water called the Hellespont. However, because she was a priestess of Aphrodite, Hero had to remain a virgin and was forbidden to marry. The two lovers decided to see each other secretly. Each night Hero would leave a lamp burning in a window of the tower in which she lived, and Leander would swim across the Hellespont, using the light to guide his way. But one stormy night, the waves tossed Leander in the sea and the breezes blew out Hero´s light, and Leander lost his way, and was drowned. The next morning, when Hero saw his lifeless body washed up on the shore, she threw herself from the tower in grief and died as well.
The tapestries were woven in the 1630s in the royal weaving workshop at Mortlake near London, run by the Dutch, Phillip de Maecht. They were designed by Franz Cleyn and reflect the influence of Flemish and partially also Italian mannerist painting. In addition to English tapestries, the State Rooms of the Primate´s Palace show Dutch and Flemish genre paintings from the 17th century and Italian paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries, all from the collections of the City Gallery of Bratislava.
The building of the Primate´s Palace has been administered by the City Council of Bratislava.
For more information about visit contact 02/593 563 94 or info@bratislava.sk.
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