Lobkowicz Palace

This morning we climbed the Old Castle Stairs (“Staré zámecké schody”) to get to the Lobkowicz Palace in the Prague Castle complex.

At the top of the stairs we found the old wall and another great view of the city. From left to right: the television tower, Old Town Square, Charles Bridge, the New Town, Petřín Hill, etc.

After some time at the observation area we walked up to the Lobkowicz Museum for a lecture and workshop with curator Dita Baker in one of the Palace rooms.

In her lecture and workshop, Dita Baker talked about the history of the Lobkowicz family (friends of the Habsburgs) and the Palace. She also discussed the family’s role as collectors and patrons of art and music in Prague. For example, the Lobkowicz family was a major patron of Beethoven, who dedicated his fifth and sixth symphonies to Prince Lobkowicz.

Dita Baker also talked about her role as curator of the Lobkowicz collection, which includes over 5,000 objects and a library of 65,000 rare books. Some highlights of the collection include paintings by Bruegel, Canaletto, and Velásquez, which we sketched and wrote about later in the day.

After the lecture and workshop, we had lunch on the Palace restaurant deck. More views of Prague!

After lunch, a quick group photo with Dita Baker (left). Then we spent the rest of the day in the museum sketching and writing about the artworks on display.

Ari sketching the Doña Margarita Teresa, Infanta of Spain . . . by Velásquez.

Sketching and writing about Bruegel’s famous Haymaking (1565). According to Kyrstyn, the painting is a representation of “fruit basket consciousness.”