St.

Charles' Church, Vienna: The Iconography of Its Architecture

Author(s): Frances D. Fergusson
Source: Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Dec., 1970), pp.
318-326
Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the Society of Architectural
Historians
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 St. Charles' Church, Vienna: The Iconography
of its Architecture

FRANCES D. FERGUSSON [Harvard University]

JOHANN BERNHARD FISCHER VON ERLACH'S Church Stephen's Cathedral in the center of the city and vowed to
of Saint Charles Borromeo (Fig. i) is among the most build a church to St. Charles Borromeo if the plague would
widely discussed and disparaged monuments of eighteenth- stop.2 Four months later, it was over and models for the
century Europe.1 Its combination of historically disparate Church of St. Charles were commissioned from Ferdinando

forms has often led to the conclusion that it represents the Galli-Bibbiena, Lukas von Hildebrandt, and J. B. Fischer
none-too-inspired dead end of the Baroque. Yet the archi- von Erlach. After Fischer's project had been approved, Carl
tecture grew out of very specific historical circumstances.
To understand the building, it is necessary to reexamine
Fischer's original iconographical intentions in the light of
late Baroque traditions and allegory.
In 1713, Vienna was seriously struck by the plague. On
October 22, the Emperor Charles VI led a procession to St.

This paper, originally written for a seminar at Harvard given by

Professor John Coolidge, was presented at the Frick Symposium in
1969. I have benefitted immeasurably from the encouragement, ad-
vice, and goodwill of Professor Coolidge. Professor Peter Collins
rescued an earlier draft from many muddled thoughts and inaccuracies.
I am also indebted to Professors James S. Ackerman and Eduard
Sekler for a number of helpful suggestions.
I. The literature is overwhelmingly German and Austrian; non-
Germanic writers tend to have a low opinion of Fischer and his
work. Nicholas Powell (From Baroque to Rococo, New York, 1959,
p. I9) refers to him as "that deliberately eclectic and often overrated
Austrian." Even Moritz Dreger, who is enthusiastically pro-Fischer,
began his 1934 article ("Zur Baugeschichte der Weiner Karls-
kirche," Wiener Jahrbuch fur Kunstgeschichte, 9, 1934, IOI) with a
defense against those who consider Fischer's architecture "kitschig."
EN DE% I I I-
The earliest important study of St. Charles' Church was made by
Albert Ilg in 1895 (Die Fischer von Erlach, I, Leben und WerkeJoh.
Fig. I. J. B. Fischer von Erla
Bernh. Fischer's von Erlach des Vaters, Vienna). Dreger's crucial 1934
Vienna (photo: Osterreichisc
article ("Wiener Karlskirche") was the first to explore the icono-
graphical and chronological problems raised by the building. Three
major studies were published on Fischer in 1956: Hans Aurenham-
mer, Katalog der Ausstellung-Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, 2. Charles VI chose his name
Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach Gesellschaft, Graz (in conjunc- tials of having dealt successf
tion with an exhibition held at Graz, Vienna, and Salzburg in 1956- the text of the Emperor's p
I957); George Kunoth, Die Historische Architektur Fischers von Erlach, Infections-Ordnung, Vienna
Diisseldorf; Hans Sedlmayr, Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, Vi- reprints rhc medical and sup
enna. Sedlmayr's monograph brings together and reinterprets much during the plague of 1713 an
of the material on St. Charles' Church published by Ilg and Dreger. of that year.

318

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Gustav Heraeus, the imperial emblematist, wrote to Leibniz,
"Voila un bon prejuger [sic] pour les arts!"3
The construction and furnishing of the church lasted
twenty-three years, from 17I5 to I738.4 Throughout this
period, the Emperor retained his interest in the project.
Charles VI laid the cornerstone, attended the formal dedica-
tion, and controlled a number of major decisions.5 A short
pause occurred in 1722, when Fischer died, but the construc-
tion continued under the guidance of his son, Josef Em-
manuel.6 By 1724, the architectural shell and most of the
exterior decoration were finished. It was not until 1738,
however, that the church was formally dedicated and pre-
sented by the Emperor to a branch of the Knights of Malta,
the Order of the Cross with the Red Star.7 At that time, the
interior was completely finished, with even the auxiliary
altarpieces in place. The church has survived virtually un-
touched and the iconographical program remains today as
originally intended.
Much of the valuable information concerning the iconog-
raphy comes from the correspondence and writings of Carl
Gustav Heraeus, the Emperor's antiquarian. In his letters to
Leibniz, Heraeus discusses the iconography of St. Charles'
Church at length; it has been suggested that he was its
iconographer.8 Heraeus's most serious and lengthy book,
Inscriptiones et Symbola-Varii Argumenti (1721) demon-
strates that his historical and allegorical interests depended
primarily on their presumed or manufactured pertinence to
3. Ilg, Fischer von Erlach, I, 635. The letter is dated 5 December
I715 (now Hannover, Niedersachsische Landesbibliothek).
4. The details and dates of construction have been best determined
through the research of Liselotte Popelka ("Studien zur Wiener
Karlskirche," Alte und Neue Kunst, 4, 1955, 75-132).
5. Popelka, "Studien," p. 132, II2-II4.
6. Fischer's death poses the problem of possible changes made by
his son and successor, Josef Emmanuel. It is clear from the records
collected by Popelka that the church was completed up to the base of
the dome by the time of Fischer's death. Comparisons of the finished
church with the engravings made by Fischer for his Entwirff einer
historischen Architektur (Vienna, 1721, IV, 12-15) show changes only
in the articulation of the drum and dome, tending towards greater
lightness and more surface detail. The choir was also shortened and a
few purely decorative motifs were changed. The alterations, while
interesting in distinguishing Fischer's work from that of his more
rococo-spirited son, are sufficiently slight to have had no effect on
the iconographical program. The Church of St. Charles Borromeo
was built in all essentials as planned by the elder Fischer.
7. Popelka, "Wiener Karlskirche," p. 132, #II8.
8. Aurenhammer, Katalog, p. 170; Sedlmayr, Fischer von Erlach, p.
128. Heraeus's many treatises and poems ranged in subject from the
virtues of the royal family to the habits of wild northern tribes (see
Heraeus, Gedichte und lateinische Inschriften, Niirnberg, 1721). Her-
aeus was born in Stockholm and, after a life of considerable variety,
obtained his position at the Viennese court through the recom-
mendation of his friend Leibniz. See Joseph Bergmann, "Ober K.
Carl VI. Rath und Hof-Antiquarius Carl Gustav Heraeus," Sitzungs-
berichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 13, 1854, 539-
625.
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319
the present day. Fischer's ideas closely paralleled Heraeus's.
In 1721, Fischer had published a book of engravings and
commentary, Entwiirff einer historischen Architektur, which
has been called "his curious omnium gatherum" of world
architecture.9 Fischer pointedly reserves his own work for
the fourth book of the treatise, seemingly as the culmination
of all that had gone before.10 Both Fischer and Heraeus thus
saw the past in terms of symbols and monuments that could
have meaning for their contemporary world. It is this spirit
which may have been the basis for their collaboration and
which makes St. Charles' Church difficult to discuss. Despite
the forthright and even bombastic formal effect of the
church, its meaning is often illusive; its iconography exists
on multiple levels and no one explanation tells the full story.
Ostensibly, it is a votive church built to commemorate St.
Charles Borromeo's intercession during the plague. Yet,
through its name, Charles VI established a connection to
himself as well. These two possible connotations were both
considered in establishing the program for the architecture.
Even on the formal level, Fischer's facade alludes to a
great number of possible sources. The general composition,
with two outer pavilions, pediment, and dome, is a free
adaptation of Bernini's plans for St. Peter's.1I The particular
forcefulness of the St. Charles' dome suggests later Italian
Baroque influences as well, such as Borromini's St. Agnese
or Juvarra's contemporary (1717-173I) Superga above
Turin.12 Partly due to the common influence of St. Peter's,
parallels also exist in mid-seventeenth-century French archi-
tecture, particularly that of LeVau and Mansart.13 The two
historiated columns, clearly derived from those of Trajan
and Marcus Aurelius, fulfill a space-defining function similar
to minarets and have been interpreted as references to Hagia
Sophia.14 The list could be still further expanded. It should
be clear, however, that there was no single prototype.
Fischer's formal conception went hand in hand with an
elaborate multilevel iconography.
9. Nikolaus Pevsner and S. Lang, "Apollo or Baboon, "Architectural
Review, 104, 1948, 273.
10. Kunoth, Die Historische Architektur, 216. However, the fifth
book discusses vases.
II. Dreger, "Wiener Karlskirche," p. 120; Sedlmayr, Fischer von
Erlach, p. 124.
12. Ilg, Fischer von Erlach, I, 662-663. Rudolf Wittkower (Art and
Architecture in Italy, Baltimore, 2nd ed., 1965, p. 389, fn. 47) notes the
similar relationship of the dome to the body of the church in the
Superga. The classicism of the two buildings seems to relate to the
architects' years in Rome and the influence of Carlo Fontana.
13. Dreger, "Wiener Karlskirche," pp. 117-118; Kunoth, Die
Historische Architektur, p. II4; Sedlmayr, Fischer von Erlach, pp. I25,
I32-134.
I4. Dreger, "Wiener Karlskirche," p. 122, fn. 5; Sedlmayr, Fis
von Erlach, p. 124.
 320

Most of the studies on the church dwell long, often ex-

clusively, on the facade. The facade is, indeed, an emphatic
part of the plan (Fig. 2); it extends far out to either side of the
actual body of the church and contrasts, in its exuberance,
with the refined but relatively sober interior. Its prominence
is emphasized still further by the site. St. Charles' Church
was built on a hill outside the walls, facing in towards the
city and most particularly towards the Hofburg, the Em-
peror's palace. It stood nearly alone; with the exception of a
few noble residences, the suburbs had not been rebuilt after
the Turkish siege of 1683.15 Planned as a votive monument,
the church served no specific practical needs and its formal
and urban dispositions were conceived with its role as sym-
bol in mind.

The sculpture and painting of the church present a mix-

Fig. 2. Plan, Church of Saint Charles Borromeo, Vienna (J. B.
ture of traditional ecclesiastical and plague iconography, Fischer von Erlach, Entwiirffeiner historischen Architektur, Iv, 15).
with the unusual inclusion of a straightforward portrayal of
plague victims in the pediment.16 St. Charles Borromeo is
Cries of eclecticism- are directed primarily towards the
appropriately prominent. He ascends to Heaven three times:
historiated columns. As direct evocations of Imperial Rome,
in the dome fresco by Rottmayr, in the stucco altarpiece by
they formed one of Fischer's most important motifs in his
Camesina, and as an "akroterion" on the pediment. In addi-
imperial projects. He had depicted Trajan's column in its
tion, episodes from his life appear in relief on the spiral
original context in the second book of his Historische Archi-
registers of the two columns. The painted altarpieces by
tektur. In Fischer's own designs, the columns were used for
Daniel Gran, Martin Altomonte, and Giovanni Pellegrini
the catafalque ofJoseph I in 1711 (Fig. 3), in a project for the
depict miraculous healings performed by Christ, with the
palace of Sch6nbrunn (Historische Architektur, IV, 2), and in a
analogy to the healing of plague victims clearly intended.17
rather awkward design of I690 for a triumphal arch (Alber-
The iconography of the representational images of St.
tina, Vienna). To Fischer, the form undoubtedly had its
Charles' Church is therefore closely related to its votive
original connotation of Roman imperial power. It is, how-
meaning Furthermore, the ecclesiastical and, more specif-
ever, a relatively heavy-handed and direct imperial symbol
ically, the plague iconography appears to extend to the
to include in a church withoutjustification of an ecclesiastical
architectural conception.
purpose.
A rationale for the columns may be found within Austrian
I5. Within the walls, conditions were so crowded that the city
began to build vertically. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, wife of the
traditions. Wooden columns were customarily erected
English Minister, described the conditions in 1716: during plagues, for the use of flagellants. In Austria, the
The streets are very close and narrow, one cannot observe the columns were monumentalized during the last half of the
fine fronts of the palaces . . . They are built of fine white stone
seventeenth century. After a wooden column had proved
and are excessively high. For, as the town is too little for the
number of people that desire to live in it, the builders seem to successful, it was replaced by a permanent votive monu-
have projected to repair that misfortune by clapping one town ment, usually consecrated to the Trinity or, less often, to the
upon the top of another, most of the houses being of five, and
Virgin Mary.18 These plague columns became popular ar-
some of them, six storeys ... There is no house that has so few
as five or six families in it. The apartments of the greatest tistic forms; many were designed by Ludovico Burnacini,
ladies, and even of the ministers of state are divided but by a Fischer's teacher and predecessor as imperial architect.19 By
partition from that of a tailor or shoemaker . . . I must own
the early eighteenth century, permanent plague columns
that I never saw a place so perfectly delightful as thefaubourg of
were found in almost all Austrian cities and towns. Fischer
Vienna. It is very large, and almost wholly composed of de-
licious palaces. If the emperor found it proper to.permit the himself had designed the column for the Vienna Graben, in
gates of the town to be laid open that the faubourg might be competition with Burnacini in i687.20 The plague column
joined to it, he would have one of the largest and best built
cities in Europe..." (Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Complete
Letters, ed. Halsband, Oxford, 1965, 259-260.) 18. Alexander Griinberg, Pestsdulen in Osterreich (Vienna, 1960),
I6. For a full description of the church and its contents, see Franz p. 5. Their sudden popularity is in large part due to the encourage-
Eppel, "Die Karlskirche in Wien," Christliche Kunststdtten Oster- ment given their construction by the Trinitarians, founded in I652.
reichs 2o (Salzburg, 1961). 19. Griinberg, Pestsdulen, p. 6.
I7. Aurenhammer, Katalog, p. 171. 20. Sedlmayr, Fischer von Erlach, pp. I65-166.

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 32I

tI , :/ a 0,< t g
i^ i'A.4 -c'47 lizefv.- I

Fig. 4. Plague
Fig. 3. J. B. Fischer von Erlach, Catafalque ofJoseph I, I7II column,
(C. G. Square of the Carmelites, G
Museum
Heraeus, Inscriptiones et Symbola-Varii Argumenti, archives).
Niirnberg, 1721,
engraving facing p. 218; photo: courtesy of the Trustees of the
British Museum).

related this
was thus the form most immediately associated form to powers of healing. Bernin
in Austria
wasof
with votive purposes identical to those based on five antique columns still pr
St. Charles'
Peter's
Church. The columns of the church would and read
be easily accepted
as a since the late Middle Age
reference to this tradition. of Solomon's Temple.21 According to St. Jer
The flagellant's use of a plague column had
was been whipped
intended as a against a column from th
Solomon's
reenactment of Christ's flogging. The column Temple
itself, how- on the night before the C
Furthermore,
ever, became the particular object of veneration. Theone
im-of the antique columns, the
portance given to the column is well-justified in view of
21.
Christian traditions concerning its history John
and Bryan Not
powers. Ward-Perkins, "The Shrine of St
Twelve Spiral Columns," The Journal of Roman St
surprisingly, some of the Austrian plague columns, such as
p. 21. The columns probably formed an altar screen a
that of 1683-1685 in the Square of the Carmelites in Graz
baldacchino over the altar in Old St. Peter's, as su
(Fig. 4), are clearly related to the undulating columns
relief on the of
fifth-century ivory casket from Sam
Bernini's baldacchino in St. Peter's. TheMuseum.
baldacchino was
22. Emile Male, L'art religieux apres le Concile de Trente (Paris,
one of the most widely influential artistic
1951),creations
pp. 263-264. A of
textthe
accompanying an engraving of the flagel-
seventeenth century and repetitions of its columns
lation are fre-
by Martin Freminet describes two columns of flagellation.
The first, of
quent throughout Europe. In the great majority of which St. Jerome speaks, was that of the Temple porti-
instances,
co. The second was a low column (traditionally, that preserved
their use is purely formal, with no iconographical
since 1223 in Sta.purpose
Prassede, Rome), which becomes the usual icono-
intended. Roman Christian tradition, however, specifically
graphical form for this subject by the end of the sixteenth century.

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322

initially seem to have little in common with these Solomonic

references. Nevertheless, both the Biblical description of the
Temple and its representation in late Renaissance art suggest
a form similar to that chosen here by Fischer. The Biblical
reference (I Kings 7: I5 and 21) states that Hiram of Tyre
"cast two pillars" and "set [them] up in the porch of the
temple," naming them "Jachin" and "Boaz." The columns
ofJachin, "firmly established," and Boaz, "in its strength,"
are the Biblical sources for the important iconographical
concept of two columns as "constancy" and "fortitude."
It was similarly an important concept for St. Charles'
Church, one emphasized by Heraeus in his book. In describ-
ing a medal of St. Charles' Church, he identifies the two
columns as Constantiam and Fortitudinem.25

Late Renaissance art conceived of Solomon's Temple in a

form similar to that used by Fischer. Ilg noted an engraving

25. Carl Gustav Heraeus, Inscriptiones et Symbola-Varii Argu-

menti (Niirnberg, I72I), pp. 75-76. Sedlmayr, Fischer von Erlach, p.
129.

Fig. 5. Colonna Sancta, Chapel of the Pieta, St. Peter's, Rome

(photo: Anderson).

(Fig. 5), now in the Chapel of the Pieta, was particularly

venerated.23 An inscription of 1438 on its surrounding bal-
ustrade records that Christ leaned against this column of
Solomon's Temple while preaching. The inscription further
expounds the column's ability to expel demons and perform
miracles.24 Both the Solomonic origin and the healing capa-
bilities of the Colonna Sancta were thus known to the High
Renaissance. It seems no coincidence that Raphael's tapestry Fig. 6. Raphael, Tapestry Cartoon for St. Peter Healing the Lame
Man, Victoria and Albert Museum, London (photo: Victoria and
cartoon (Fig. 6) depicts St. Peter healing a lame man on the Albert Museum).
spiral-columned porch of Solomon's Temple. A reflection
of the same iconographical tradition occurred in the decora-
tion of the King's Chapel at Windsor Castle of I680 (Fig. 7),
with a similar combination of Solomonic columns and
scenes of healing. The devotion given to the plague column
is thus related not only to Christ's flagellation, but ultimately
to suggestions of Solomon's Temple and to the healing
powers of the Colonna Sancta.
The columns of St. Charles' Church are explicit Trajanic
columns with flattened helical registers, however, and would

23. Its importance is illustrated by a drawing of ca. 535 attributed

to Martin von Heemskerck of the transept of St. Peter's, which
shows the Colonna Sancta prominently displayed despite the building
program and surrounded by a high fence to protect it from relic
hunters. (Stockholm, National Museum, Collection Anckarvard
637. Illustrated in Richard Krautheimer, "Some Drawings of Early
Christian Basilicas in Rome," Art Bulletin, 26, I949, 2I I-2I 3, Fig. I.) Fig. 7. King's Chapel, Windsor (W. H. Pyne, The History of the
24. Ward-Perkins, "Shrine of St. Peter," p. 28. Royal Residences, I, London, I819, engraving facing p. I79).

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by Philip Galle after Martin von Heemskerck depicting the
Temple preceded by two monumental, freestanding Corin-
thian columns.26 Fischer was acquainted with Heemskerck's
work; he had borrowed freely from his engravings for the
Historische Architektur views of the Seven Wonders of the
World.27 There is, in addition, some small suggestion that
the plague references of Solomon's Temple were accepted
in Fischer's own time. In the Bible, Solomon's Dedication
Prayer for his Temple includes a short reference: "If there be
in the land famine, if there be pestilence, . ... whatever
plague, whatever sickness there be; ... who shall know
every man the plague of his own heart, ... Then hear thou in
heaven.. ." (I Kings 8: 37-39). This is echoed by the title of
a pamphlet issued in I666 by Matthew Mead in response to
the London plague of I665, Solomon's Prescriptionfor the Re-
moval of the Pestilence; or the Discovery of the Plague of Our
Hearts, in order to the Healing of that in our Flesh. Thus, in at
least one instance, this specific wisdom of Solomon was
considered by Fischer's near contemporaries as a preventive
to the plague. Therefore, although it is impossible to pin
down a direct iconographical source for the totality of
Fischer's highly original church, some correspondences
among St. Charles' Church, the plague column tradition,
and Solomon's Temple are most probable.
But the iconography of St. Charles' Church cannot be
fully explained on this one level. It is now necessary to turn
to the second level of the Church's meaning-its imperial
significance.
From its start, the Church of St. Charles Borromeo was a
monument closely associated with the Emperor. To the
people of Vienna, it was more than a reminder of the plague;
it also spoke vividly of Charles VI's determination to remain
in Vienna despite the danger and of his attempts to halt the
plague-in sharp contrast to the indifference of his predeces-
sors, who had always fled the city at the first sign oftrouble.28
However, Charles's actions were without doubt politically
26. The engraving is of Titus burning Solomon's Temple. Ilg,
Fischer von Erlach, I, 657-659. Ilg also mentioned a painting by Paris
Bordone of gladiators within a fantastic Roman architectural setting,
then in the Kaiser's collection (now Kunsthistorisches Museum,
Vienna). The painting depicts paired Trajanic columns to the side of
the classical portico and dome of the Pantheon.
Fischer's own interpretation of Solomon's Temple (Historische
Architektur, I, 1-2) refers specifically to the Biblical text. In his en-
graving, Solomon's Temple is classical and boxlike in form, almost
overwhelmed, however, by its position within a vast enclosure of
buildings. The two columns, mentioned specifically by Fischer in the
accompanying text, are placed inside the porch of the Temple,
reaching a height equal to that of the interior. Fischer depended, in
this instance, on a number of seventeenth- and early eighteenth-
century sources (see Kunoth, Die Historische Architektur, pp. 23-77).
27. Kunoth, Die Historische Architektur, p. 2I7.
28. Charles's own father, Leopold I, had fled Vienna during the
Turkish siege of 1683. He returned, not in glory, but to "the faint,
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323
motivated. In the midst of a frustrating attempt to claim the
Spanish throne, Charles had unexpectedly become the Aus-
trian Emperor upon the premature death of his elder brother
in 171I.29 The empire he inherited was loosely organized
and few of his new subjects had any sense of loyalty to the
idea of a unified Austria or to a single ruler. Bohemia in
particular was tense and rebellious. Moreover, the exact
limits of his new empire were still, to Charles's mind, in
dispute. The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht awarded Spain to Louis
XIV's grandson, Philip V, and gave Gibraltar to England.
Charles received the Spanish Netherlands, Milan, Naples,
and Sardinia. In rebuttal, the Emperor issued the Pragmatic
Sanction of 1714, reaffirming his claims to Spain and its
possessions, including Gibraltar. When St. Charles' Church
was first conceived, therefore, Charles VI's political position
had reached its most critical moments. Under the force of
these historical circumstances, the original meaning of the
church was vastly extended.
The breadth of the patronage alone contradicts a local,
Viennese character: St. Charles' Church was built with funds
collected throughout Charles's empire.30 Even the choice of
an order of priests to run the church satisfied multiple inten-
tions. The Order of the Cross with the Red Star was a
Bohemian offshoot of the Knights of Malta, once under the
care of Cardinal Charles Borromeo, and known primarily
for its hospital work and care of the sick.31 With this one
reluctant, studied homage" of the Viennese. (William Coxe, History
of the House of Austria, London, 3rd ed., I888, n1, 447.)
29. Charles's right to the imperial crown was by no means uni-
versally accepted. Leopold I, Charles's father, had attempted to es-
tablish firm rules of succession to the throne by a family agreement
of 1703 made with Charles and his elder brother Joseph. Joseph was
to receive the Austrian hereditary lands, including Hungary and
Bohemia, and Charles was to become King of Spain. If Joseph then
died without any sons, the entire inheritance was to go to Charles,
creating a single, unified Hapsburg Empire. However, if Charles
subsequently died without sons, the Empire would again split, with
the Austrian territories reverting to Joseph's heirs and with Spain
going to Charles's daughters. England and the smaller European
powers breathed a considerable sigh of relief at this agreement;
under the likely possibility that Joseph would have a male heir, it
clearly meant that the two Hapsburg lines of Charles and Joseph
would never join to form an immense Hapsburg power in Europe.
However, the family agreement predicted the actual course of
events. Joseph had two daughters, but no son, and reaffirmed his
father's plan before his death in 1711. (Oswald Redlich, Das Werden
einer Grossmacht. Osterreich von 1700 bis 1740, Vienna, 4th ed., 1962,
pp. 25-26.)
30. Ilg, Fischer von Erlach, I, 62o-621; Popelka, "Wiener Karls-
kirche," pp. II9-I20, %46.
3I. Pierre Helyot, Dictionnaire des Ordres Religieux (Paris, 1860),
I, II64-II67. The monks were not originally interested in St.
Charles' Church. In 1716, they asked to be relieved of the responsi-
bility in favor of a new hospital. By 1732, however, they reversed
this position and the head of the order requested management of the
church. (Popelka, "Wiener Karlskirche," p. 132, I 112.)
 324

decision, Charles VI was able to bring together references to They are essentially of two types: those related to imperial
the Milanese saint and to the sick, a degree of consolidation power, specifically that of Rome and the Holy Roman Em-
with the Bohemians, and the idea of a noble, military cura- pire, and those related to territorial claims.35 Under the
torship. As elsewhere in the church, the wealth of possible first interpretation, the columns may be taken literally as
connotations is both astounding and carefully considered. evocations of Trajan and of past empires; hence, too, the
St. Charles' Church has only three explicit representa- suggestions of Charlemagne, Solomon, and the churches of
tional references to the Emperor: the traditional imperial St. Peter's, Hagia Sophia, and Solomon's Temple. St.
symbols of the double-headed eagle and the crown sur- Charles' Church also defines, through formal references, the
mount each of the two columns and an orb tops the dome territories owned or claimed by the Emperor. Heraeus
lantern. On the interior, two of the altarpieces, both by agreed that the name of the church referred in part to Charles
Daniel Gran, combine plague and imperial meanings. That of Flanders and thus to the northernmost limits of Hapsburg
of St. Elizabeth Distributing Alms to the Poor is probably a power, the Spanish Netherlands. The columns, bearing the
reference to Elizabeth von Braunschweig-Wolfenbiittel, the brunt of still another interpretation, appear now as remind-
Emperor's wife.32 More specific still is the altarpiece ofers of Charles VI's territorial ambitions as set forth in the
Christ and the Roman Centurion. The story (Luke 7: I-9) con- Pragmatic Sanction. ForJoseph I's catafalque (171I ), Fischer
cerns the centurion who asks that Christ cure his sick servant. had used four Trajanic columns, topped with spoils, each

The elders intercede on behalf of the centurion, tellingJesus representing victory over France, Spain, Italy, or Belgium.
that "he is worthy that thou shouldst do this for him, for he In 1721, Fischer's introduction to his Historische Architektur
loves his nation and himself has built us our synagogue." states, incorrectly but hopefully, that Charles VI had extend-
The analogy to the position of Charles VI is clear. However, ed the Hapsburg lands to the pillars of Hercules, the strait of
the overt references to imperial power are few. Gibraltar.36

Nevertheless, imperial references of a much more pro- The importance of the pillars of Hercules was partly stra-
found nature were clearly intended. Heraeus's correspond- tegic and partly allegorical. Through the reference to Hercu-
ence with Leibniz states that St. Charles' Church really is les, they evoked Charles VI's favorite hero and, indeed, the
Charles's Church: not only that of St. Charles Borromeo, image he had chosen for himself. The iconography of
but also of Charles VI, Charlemagne, and Charles of Flanders Fischer's other major work in Vienna, the Court Library
(Charles the Bold).33 The church was conceived as a dual (Fig. 8), probably also planned by Heraeus, is explicit on this
monument to both saint and emperor. point. It is, according to Buchowiecki, "no more nor less
Many of the imperial references have been well and ex- than a Temple, raised to the Emperor as the Hercules Mu-
haustively discussed in previous literature on the church.34 sarum."37 It, too, uses the double column motif combined
with an explicit fresco program. The Hercules image for
Charles VI was further reinforced by books and medals.
32. Aurenhammer, Katalog, I7I.
33. Letter by Leibniz, dated Hannover, 29 March 1716 (now Heraeus's volume of inscriptions, ostensibly dedicated to
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Archive of Bundessammlung Charles VI, begins with a full page engraving of the Hercules
fiir Medaillen, Miinzen und Geldzeichen): Musarum. Heraeus specifically connects the Empire with
Je ne say ce que Sa Majeste Imperiale et Catholique aura dit sur
ma pensee de faire mettre dans Sa nouvelle eglise de S. Charles
Hercules in a medal depicting victory over the Turks as a
non seulement S. Charles Borromee italien et moderne, mais nude Hercules defeating a turbaned figure.38
encore deux Saints d'ancienne date Princes et meme ses pre-
decesseurs, l'un dans l'Empire, l'autre dans les pays bas. Savoir
S. Charlemagne et S. Charles Comte de Flandres . . ." (Justus
Schmidt, "Die Architekturbiicher der beiden Fischer von Er- pointed out the importance of political connotations in imperial
lach," WienerJahrbuchfiir Kunstgeschichte, 9, 1934, I55.) Baroque art ("Die politische Bedeutung des deutschen Barocks,"
Letter by Leibniz, probably to Heraeus, dated 4 June 1716 (now Festgabefuir Heinrich Ritter von Srbik, Vienna, I938, pp. I26-I40).
Regensburg, Thurn and Taxis family archive): 35. Dreger ("Wiener Karlskirche") was the first to distinguish the
Je serais bien aise d'avoir votre sentiment, Monsieur, et celuy de two levels of votive and imperial significance. Sedlmayr ("Die
Fischers, s'il ne seroit a propos d'avoir aussi quelque egard a Schauseite der Karlskirche in Wien," Kunstgeschichteliche Studienjur
S. Charles-Magne, et a S. Charles, Comte de Flandres, tous Hans Kauffmann, Berlin, 1956, pp. 262-271) enumerated three sep-
deux predecesseurs, l'un dans l'Empire, l'autre dans une partie arate levels of interpretation: references to St. Charles Borromeo,
des pais hereditaires." (Ilg, Fischer von Erlach, I, 636; Sedlmayr, references to the emperor, and references to Solomon. See also
Fischer von Erlach, pp. 129, 291.) Sedlmayr, Fischer von Erlach, pp. I27-I3I.
Leibniz's ideas are confirmed by a letter from Heraeus, dated Vienna, 36. Fischer von Erlach, Historische Architektur, Introduction, p.
September 1716 (now Hannover, Niedersachsische Landesbiblio- 2; Sedlmayr, Fischer von Erlach, p. 129.
thek). 37. Karl Buchowiecki, Der Barockbau der ehemaligen Hofbibliothek
34. For the earliest comprehensive statement of these references, in Wien, ein WerkJ. B. Fischers von Erlach (Vienna, 1956), p. 85.
see Dreger, "Wiener Karlskirche," pp. IOI-I46. Sedlmayr has 38. Heraeus, Inscriptiones, pp. 17, 39, 47.

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Fig. 8. J. B. Fischer von Erlach, Court Library, Vienna (photo:
Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek).
However, Charles VI was drawing upon a type firmly
established for royalty in the seventeenth century. Hercules
was an important symbol for the House of Orange.39 Fur-
thermore, it was a popular image for Louis XIV; as Witt-
kower has established, Bernini referred to Hercules in his
equestrian portrait ofthe French king and once even contem-
plated placing the statue between two Trajanic columns,
with the motto non plus ultra. The result would have been a
pun on the emblem of the Austrian Emperor Charles V, two
columns and the motto plus ultra.40 Although the plan was
never carried out, the project demonstrates that, consider-
ably before Fischer, the rulers of Europe had maneuvered
for appropriate and meaningful allegories. The reference to
the pillars of Hercules in St. Charles' Church is thus an
39. The image of Hercules was the formative iconographical idea
behind the decoration of Hampton Court, 1689-1695. See Kerry
Downes, English Baroque Architecture (London, 1966), p. 35.
40. Rudolf Wittkower, "The Vicissitudes of a Dynastic Monu-
ment-Bernini's Equestrian Statue of Louis XIV," De Artibus Opus-
cula XL, Essays in Honor of Erwin Panofsky (New York, 1961), pp.
505-507. Also, Dreger, "Wiener Karlskirche," p. 122, fn. 5.
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325
important part of a scheme to drive home Charles VI's
allegorical identity.
In addition, Charles VI revived the past of his own empire.
His emblem (Fig. 9) also derives from that of Charles V,
with two columns supporting a crown, but with the resolute
motto, constantia etfortitudine. As noted earlier, these are the
names given to the two columns of Solomon's Temple, of
St. Charles' Church, and, indeed, to most other paired col-
umns.41 What is pertinent, however, is the similarity in
total form of the core of St. Charles' Church-two columns
flanking a high, prominent dome-to the emblem itself.
They are, in fact, so close, considering the large variations in
medium and use, that it seems likely that Fischer used the
emblem as the basis for his architectural ideas.42 Fischer
thereby created a form that was not only easily read as
imperial, but which was already encrusted with several
layers of imagery. His interpretation is not literal; in an
ecclesiastical building, the dome is not a crown. But seen
within the landscape of eighteenth-century Vienna, the
prominent facade would emphasize the church's emblem-
atic character. Its proposed derivation from an essentially
decorative form helps to explain the open silhouette and the
free use of the Trajanic columns within the architecture it-
self. Doubled Trajanic columns had previously been restrict-
ed to decorative or urban contexts and Fischer's use of the
motif as an integral element of a full-scale architectural con-
ception is a bold step.
St. Charles' Church should not be seen as a random, pro-
vincial fluke, but as an early attempt to reconsider the prem-
4I. Wittkower ("Bernini's Equestrian Statue," p. 507, fn. 38)
notes the reference of the "Herculean" columns of St. Charles'
Church to those of the emperors' two emblems. See also Dreger,
"Wiener Karlskirche," p. 122, fn. 5; Sedlmayr, Fischer von Erlach,
p. 128.
42. The transformation of imperial decorative forms to monu-
mental size was not new. Robert Berger has recently shown the
prevalence in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of the concept
of drum or dome as a crown ("Antoine Le Pautre and the Motif of
the Drum-without-Dome," JSAH, xxv, 3, Oct. 1966, I65-I8o).
According to Berger, this trend appears in Vienna in the I697 plans
by Hildebrandt for the Schwarzenberg Palace, intended for Count
Mansfeld-Fondi. The first project had an explicit closed crown,
which was replaced by a domeless drum or, in Berger's interpreta-
tion, an open crown. The change was made because a closed crown
was inappropriate for a count in view of its imperial connotations.
Berger points out that Fischer, too, used the drum-without-dome,
also only in residences for counts or in his ideal projects. Fischer, as
imperial architect, was thus demonstrably aware of the symbolic use
of dome as crown and of the possibility of monumentalizing sym-
bolic forms. Indeed, Sedlmayr, in discussing the style of the church,
notes its similarity to triumphal architecture and the purelv formal
effect of the dome as the "crown" of the building (Fischer von
Erlach, pp. 125-126).
326

ises of classical architecture. Responding to specific historical
needs, Fischer applied a new criterion of historical relativity,
choosing his motifs on iconographical grounds, rather than
on the basis of formal usage or propriety. His empiricism is
an attitude fostered by Fischer's own wide-ranging studies
of world architecture-and is conditioned by such a study's
implied belief that architecture does not consist of a single
set of unbreakable formal rules, but varies with time, place,
and needs. St. Charles' Church stands as one of the earliest
constructed examples of the crisis in form created by eight-
eenth-century historicism. As such, Fischer's work was not a
last fantastic gasp of the Baroque, but a precursor of the
new age.

Irz
f

Fig. 9. Emblem of Charles VI (C. G. Heraeus, Gedichte und latei-

nische Inschriften, Niirnberg, 1721, p. 65; photo: courtesy of the
Trustees of the British Museum).

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